



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 









“ I had my eye oji the knife of the man who was sitting next to me.” 

Page 192. 


THE 


BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

OR 


COLONEL 

THORNDTKE'S 

SECRET 


BY 

GEORGE A. HENTY 

Author of “ Under Drake’s Flag,” “ Bonnie Prince Charlie,” 
“ In Freedom’s Cause,” etc. 



ILLUSTRATED BY 

ELENORE PLAISTED ABBOTT 


PHILADELPHIA 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 


900 



Copyright, 1897, by George A. Henty. 

Copyright, 1899, by J. B. Lippincott Company. 

TWO COPIES RECEIVED, 



FiRfcT COPY, 


Electrotyped and Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, U.S. A. 

&A .VV^ . 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 






LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

¥ 

PAGE 

“ I had my eye on the knife of the man who was sitting next 

to me” Frontispiece 

“ I looked out suddenly, and each time there was a dark face some- 


where in the street behind” 24 

“ He is dead, father” 82 

Mark stripped, and the man walked around him critically .... 145 

“ As you love me, so I love you, Mark” 260 

“ It took me almost as long to get the ropes off my legs” 312 




THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


CHAPTER I. 

S QUIRE THORNDYKE, of the Manor House of 
Crawley, was, on the 1st of September, 1782, 
walking up and down the little terrace in front of 
the quaint old house in an unusually disturbed mood. 
He was a man of forty-three or four, stoutly and strongly 
built, and inclined to be portly. Save the loss of his 
wife four years before, there had been but little to ruffle 
the easy tenor of his life. A younger son, he had, at 
his mother’s death, when he was three-and-twenty, come 
in for the small estate at Crawley, which had been her 
jointure. 

For ten years he had led a life resembling that of 
most of his neighbours ; he had hunted and shot, been 
a regular attendant at any main of cocks that was fought 
within fifteen miles of Crawley, had occasionally been up 
to London for a week or two to see the gay things there, 
and had generally gone down of an evening to the inn, 

7 


8 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

where he talked over with two or three of his own con- 
dition, and a few of the better class of farmers, the news 
of the day, the war with the French, the troubles in 
Scotland, the alarming march of the young Pretender, 
and his defeat at Culloden ; with no very keen interest 
in the result, for the Southern gentry and yeomen, un- 
like those in the North, had no strong leanings either 
way. They had a dull dislike for Hanoverian George, 
but no great love for the exiled Stuarts, whose patron, 
the King of France, was an enemy of England. 

More often, however, their thoughts turned upon local 
topics : the holding up of the coach of Sir James Harris 
or Squire Hamilton by highwaymen ; the affray between 
the French smugglers and the Revenue men near Selsea 
Bill or Shoreham ; the delinquencies of the poaching 
gangs ; the heaviness of the taxes, and the price of corn. 

At the age of thirty-three Squire Thorndyke married 
the daughter of a neighbouring land-owner ; a son was 
born, and three years later Mrs. Thorndyke died. Since 
then the Squire had led a more retired life ; he still went 
down to smoke his pipe at the inn parlour, but he gave 
up his visits to town, and cock-fights and even bull-bait- 
ing were no longer attractions to him. He was known 
as a good landlord to the three or four farmers who held 
land under him ; was respected and liked in the village, 
where he was always ready to assist in cases of real dis- 
tress ; was of an easy-going disposition and on good 
terms with all his neighbours. 

But to-day he was unusually disturbed in his mind. 
A messenger had ridden up two hours before with a 
letter from London. It was as follows : 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


9 


“My dear Brother John, — You will be surprised 
indeed at this letter from me, whom, doubtless, you sup- 
pose to be fighting in India. I have done with fighting, 
and am nearly done with life. I was shot in the battle of 
Buxar, eighteen months ago. For a time the surgeons 
thought that it was going to be fatal ; then I rallied, and 
for some months it seemed that, in spite of the ball that 
they were never able to find, I was going to get over it, 
and should be fit for service again. Then I got worse : 
first it was a cough, and the blood used to come up, and 
they said that the only chance for me was to come home. 

I did not believe it would be of any use, but I thought 
that I would rather die at home than in India, so home I 
came, and have now been a week in London. 

“ I thought at first of going down to my place at 
Reigate, and having you and your boy down with me, 
but as I have certainly not many weeks, perhaps not 
many days to live, I thought I would come down to 
you ; so the day after you receive this letter I shall be 
with you. I shall not bring my little girl down ; I 
have left her in good hands, and I shall only bring \ 
with me my Hindoo servant. He will give you no 
trouble : a mat to sleep on, and a little rice to eat will 
satisfy his wants, and he will take the trouble of me a 
good deal off your hands. He was a Sepoy in my 
regiment, and has always evinced the greatest devotion 
for me. More than once in battle he has saved my 
life, and has, for the last three years, been my servant, 
and has nursed me since I have been ill as tenderly as a 
woman could have done. As I shall have time to tell 
you everything when I arrive, I will say no more now.” 


IO 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


The news had much affected John Thorn dyke. His 
brother George was five years his senior, and had gone 
out as a cadet in the Company’s service when John was 
but thirteen, and this was his first home-coming. Had 
it not been for a portrait that had been taken of him in 
his uniform just before he sailed, John would have had 
but little remembrance of him. In that he was repre- 
sented as a thin, spare youth, with an expression of 
quiet determination in his face. From his father John 
had, of course, heard much about him. 

“ Nothing would satisfy him but to go out to India, 
John. There was, of course, no occasion for it, as he 
would have this place after me, a fine estate and a good 
position ; what could he want more ? But he was a 
curious fellow. Once he formed an opinion there was 
no persuading him to change it. He was always get- 
ting ideas such as no one else would think of ; he did 
not care for anything that other people cared for ; he 
never hunted nor shot ; he used to puzzle me altogether 
with his ways, and ’pon my word I was not sorry when 
he said he would go to India, for there was no saying 
how he might have turned out if he had stopped here. 
He never could do anything like anybody else ; noth- 
ing that he could have done would have surprised me. 

“If he had told me that he intended to be a play- 
actor, or a jockey, or a pirate, or a book-writer, I 
would not have been surprised. Upon my word, it 
was rather a relief to me when he said, ‘ I have made 
up my mind to go into the East India service, father. 
I suppose you can get me a cadetship.’ At least, that 
was an honourable profession, and I knew anyhow that 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


1 1 

when he once said, ‘ I have made up my mind, father,’ 
no arguments would move him, and that if I did not 
get him a cadetship he was perfectly capable of running 
away, going up to London, and enlisting in one of their 
white regiments.” 

John Thorndyke’s own remembrances were that his 
brother had always been good-natured to him, that he 
had often told him long stories about Indian adven- 
tures, and that a short time before he went away, 
having heard that he had been unmercifully beaten 
by the school- master at Reigate for some trifling fault, 
he had gone down to the town, and had so battered 
the man that the school had to be closed for a fort- 
night. They had always kept up a correspondence. 
When he received the news of his father’s death George 
had written to him, begging him to go down to Reigate, 
and to manage the estate for him. 

“ Of course,” he said, “ you will draw its income as 
long as you are there. I mayn’t be back for another 
twenty years ; one gets rich out here fast, what with 
plunder and presents and one thing and another, and it 
is no use to have money accumulating at home, so just 
live on the place as if it were your own, until I come 
home to turn you out.” 

John had declined the offer. 

“ I am very well where I am,” he wrote, “ and the care 
of the estate would be a horrible worry to me ; besides, 
I have just married, and if I ever have any children they 
would be brought up beyond their station. I have 
done what I can for you. I have engaged an excellent 
man, who has been steward to Sir John Hieover, and 


12 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


looked after the estate during his son’s minority. But 
the young blade, on coming of age, set to work to make 
ducks and drakes of the property, and Newman could 
not bear to see the estate going to the Jews, so, as luck 
would have it, he resigned a month ago, and I went over 
as soon as I got your letter and appointed him, in your 
name, steward at Reigate. I think he will do the place 
justice in every way. Of course, if you don’t like the 
arrangement you must write and say so ; it will be a year 
before I get your answer, and I have only engaged him 
for certain for that time, telling him that it must lie with 
you as to permanent arrangement.” 

So Newman had taken charge of the Reigate estate, 
and had continued to manage it ever since, although 
George had written home in great displeasure at his offer 
being refused. 

Inside the Manor the bustle of preparations was going 
on ; the spare room, which had not been used for many 
years, was being turned out, and a great fire lighted to 
air it. John Thorndyke had sent a letter by the return- 
ing messenger to a friend in town, begging him to go at 
once to Leadenhall Street and send down a supply of 
Indian condiments for his brother’s use, and had then 
betaken himself to the garden to think the matter over. 
The next day a post-chaise arrived, bringing the invalid 
and his coloured servant, whose complexion and Indian 
garb struck the maids with an awe not unmingled with 
alarm. John Thorndyke could hardly believe that the 
bent and emaciated figure was that of his brother, but 
he remembered the voice when the latter said, holding 
out his hand to him, — 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


13 


“ Well, brother John, here I am, what is left of me. 
Gracious, man ! who would have thought that you were 
going to grow up such a fine tall fellow. You are more 
fitted to be a soldier than I am. No, don’t try to help me 
out ; Ramoo will do that, he is accustomed to my ways ; 
and I would as soon trust myself to a rogue elephant as 
to you.” 

“ I am sorry to see you looking so badly, brother 
George. ” 

“What must be, must ; I have had my fling, and after 
thirty years of marching and fighting I have no right to 
grumble if I am laid upon my back at last.” 

Leaning on Ramoo’s arm, Colonel Thorndyke made 
his way into the house, and, when Ramoo had arranged 
the cushions of the sofa, took his place there in a half- 
reclining position. 

“ I am not always as bad as this, John,” he said ; “ the 
jolting of your confounded roads has been too much for 
me. If I were the king I would hang every fellow who 
had anything to do with them, contractors, boards of 
county magistrates, and the whole lot. If I had known 
what it was going to be like I would have hired a Sedan 
chair, and had myself carried down. That is what I have 
been doing in London ; but I would rather have had an 
Indian palkee that one could have lain down comfort- 
ably in.” 

“ What shall I get you first, George ? I have got some 
lemons.” 

“ I want something better than lemons, John. Have 
you any Burgundy handy?” 

“Yes, plenty.” 


14 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“If you give a bottle to Ramoo he will know how 
much water I want.” 

Here the servant entered with a tray with a chicken 
and a dish of kidneys. 

“ I sent up yesterday for some of the Indian things 
that you are accustomed to, George, but they have not 
come down yet.” 

“ I brought a store down with me. This will do 
capitally for the present. Ramoo will do the cooking 
for me in the future. He need not go into the kitchen 
to scare the maids. I could see they looked at him as 
if he had been his infernal majesty, as he came in. 
He can do it anywhere ; all he wants is an iron pot 
with some holes in it, and some charcoal : he can squat 
out there on the verandah, or, if it is bad weather, any 
shed will do for him. Well, it is nice to be home 
again, John,” he went on, after he had eaten a few 
mouthfuls of chicken and drunk a tumbler of Burgundy 
and water. “ I am glad to be back now I am here, 
though I daresay I should not have come home for 
another ten years if it had not been for this rascally 
bullet. Where is your boy?” 

“He is away at school.” 

“Well, I think I will go up to bed at once, if you 
don’t mind, John. I shall be fitter to talk in the morn- 
ing.” 

The next day, indeed, Colonel Thorndyke was mate- 
rially better. His voice was stronger and more cheery, 
and when he came down after breakfast he took his seat 
in an easy-chair instead of on the sofa. 

“Now, brother,” he said, “we will have a cosey chat. 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


5 


There are several things I want done, but the chief of 
these is that when I am gone you should go down to 
Reigate, as I wanted you to do ten years ago. I want 
you to seem to be its master, as well as be its master, 
until Millicent comes of age, if not longer. Her name 
is Millicent Conyers Thorndyke. I wish her to be 
called Millicent Conyers, and to appear as your ward, 
and not as your niece and heiress of the property. If 
there is one thing in the world I have a greater horror 
of than another, it is of a girl being married for her 
money. I don’t suppose that any one knows that I 
have a daughter ; at any rate, none beyond a few Indian 
chums. She was sent home with an ayah under the 
charge of the widow of a comrade of mine. I had 
been away for months, and only went back to Calcutta 
in time to see her mother die. So that is all right.” 

“ I could not do such a thing as that, George. I 
should be living under false colours. It is not that I 
mind so much leaving here and looking after the 
child’s interest at Reigate, but I could not possibly 
take possession of the place as its owner when I should 
not be so. Besides, there are other objections. Mark 
would grow up supposing himself to be the heir.” 

“ Mark will be all right. I have, since I have been 
in London, signed a will, leaving the rest of my fortune 
between them. I had it drawn up by our father’s solici- 
tors, relying upon your consent to do what I asked 
you. I have explained the matter to them, and given 
them the assignment, or whatever they call it, of the 
Reigate estate to you, until my daughter comes of age, 
appointing them her guardians should you die before 


1 6 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


that. Thus, you will be placed in a proper position, 
and, should it be known by any means that the child is 
my daughter, that deed will still be a proof that you are 
carrying out my wishes, and are absolute master of the 
estate until she comes of age.” 

“ I must think it all over, George. It is a singular 
proposal, and I own I would rather things went on in 
their regular course.” 

“ Yes, yes, I understand that, John, but you see I 
have altogether set my mind on this matter. I want to 
know that my girl is not going to be married for her 
money ; and, at any rate, that deed makes you master 
of the Reigate estates for the next thirteen years ; so 
the only thing that I really want of you is to let the 
girl be called your ward instead of your niece, and that 
she and everyone else shall be in ignorance that she is 
an heiress. So far from doing the girl a wrong, you 
will be doing her a benefit ; and, as I have explained 
the whole matter to our lawyers, no one can possibly 
think that the thing has been done from any motive 
whatever except that of affording me satisfaction.” 

“ I will think the matter over,” John repeated. “Of 
course, brother, it has been in your mind for some time, 
but it comes altogether fresh to me, and I must look at 
it in every light. For myself, I have no wish at all to 
become master of our father’s estate. I have been 
going in one groove for the last twenty years, and don’t 
care about changing it. You wished me to do so ten 
years ago, and I declined then, and the ten years have 
not made me more desirous of change than I was 
before.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


17 

“ All right, think it over. Please send Ramoo in to 
me ; I have tired myself in talking.” 

John Thorndyke smoked many churchwarden pipes 
in the little arbour in his garden that day. In the 
afternoon his brother was so weak and tired that the 
subject of the conversation was not reverted to. At 
eight o’clock the colonel went off to bed. The next 
morning, after breakfast, he was brighter again. 

“Well, John, what has come of your thinking?” he 
asked. 

“ I don’t like it, George.” 

“ You mayn’t like it, John, but you will do it. I am 
not going to have my girl run after by ruined spend- 
thrifts who want her money to repair their fortunes, 
and I tell you frankly, if you refuse I shall go up to 
town to-morrow and I shall make a new will leaving all 
my property to your son, subject to a life annuity of 
£200 a year to the child, and ordering that, in the 
event of his dying before he comes of age, or of 
refusing to accept the provisions of the will, or hand- 
ing any of the property or money over to my daughter, 
the whole estate, money, jewels, and all, shall go to the 
London hospitals, subject, as before, to the annuity. 

“Don’t be an ass, brother John. Do you think 
that I don’t know what I am doing? I have seen 
enough of the evils of marrying for money out in India ; 
every ship that comes out brings so many girls sent out 
to some relation to be put on the marriage market, and 
marrying men old enough to be pretty nearly their 
grandfathers, with the natural consequence that there 
is the devil to pay before they have been married a 


8 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


year or two. Come, you know you will do it ; why 
not give in at once and have done with it ? It is not 
a bad thing for you, it will be a good thing for your 
boy, it will save my girl from fortune-hunters, and enable 
me to die quietly and comfortably.” 

“All right, George, I will do it. Mind, I don’t do 
it willingly, but I do it for your sake.” 

“That is right,” Colonel Thorndyke said, holding 
out his thin, bronzed hand to his brother ; “ that is off 
my mind. Now, there is only one other thing, those 
confounded jewels. But I won’t talk about them 
now. ” 

It was not, indeed, till three or four days later that the 
colonel again spoke to his brother on any than ordi- 
nary matters. He had, indeed; been very weak and ail- 
ing. After breakfast, when, as usual, he was a little 
stronger and brighter than later in the day, he said to 
his brother, suddenly, — 

“I suppose there are no hiding-places in this room?” 

“ Hiding-places ! What do you mean, George?” 

“ Places where a fellow could hide up and hear what 
we are talking about.” 

“ No, I don’t think so,” the Squire replied, looking 
round vaguely ; “ such an idea never occurred to me. 
Why do you ask?” 

“Because, John, if there is such a thing as a hiding- 
place, someone will be sure to be hiding there. Where 
does that door lead to?” 

“ It doesn’t lead anywhere ; it used to lead into the next 
room, but it was closed up before my time, and turned 
into a cupboard, and this door is permanently closed.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


19 

“ Do you mind stepping round into the next room and 
seeing if anyone is in the cupboard ?” 

Thinking that his brother was a little light-headed, 
John Thorndyke went into the next room and returned, 
saying, gravely, that no one was there. 

“Will you look behind the curtains, John, and under 
this sofa, and everywhere else where even a cat could be 
hidden? That seems all right,’’ the colonel went on, as 
his brother continued the search. “You know there is 
a saying that walls have ears, and I am not sure that it is 
not so. I have been haunted with the feeling that every- 
thing I did was watched, and that everything I said was 
listened to, for years ; and I can tell you it is a devilishly 
unpleasant thought. Draw your chair quite close to me. 
It is about my jewels, John. I always had a fancy for 
jewels, not to wear them, but to own them. In my time 
I have had good opportunities in that way, both in the 
Madras Presidency and in the Carnatic. In the first 
place, I have never cared for taking presents in money ; 
but I have never refused jewels, and what with rajahs 
and nabobs and ministers that one had helped or done 
a good turn to somehow, a good deal came to me that 
way. 

“Then I always made a point of carrying money 
with me, and after a defeat of the enemy or a success- 
ful siege there was always lots of loot, and the soldiers 
were glad enough to sell anything in the way of jewels 
for a tithe of their value in gold. I should say if I 
put the value of the jewels at ^50,000 I am not much 
wide of the mark. That is all right ; there is no bother 
about them ; the trouble came from a diamond bracelet 


20 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


that I got from a soldier. We were in camp near Tan- 
jore. I was officer of the day. I had made my rounds 
and was coming back to my quarters when I saw a 
soldier come out of a tent thirty or forty yards away. It 
was a moonlight night, and the tent was one belonging 
to a white Madras regiment. Suddenly I saw another 
figure, that had been lying down outside the tent, rise. 
I saw the flash of the moonlight on steel, then there 
was a blow, and the soldier fell. I drew my sword and 
rushed forward. 

“ The native, for I could see that it was a native, was 
bending over the man he had stabbed. His back was 
towards me, and on the sandy soil he did not hear my 
footsteps until I was close to him ; then he sprang up 
with a cry of fury, and leapt on me like a tiger. I was 
so taken by surprise that before I could use my sword 
the fellow had given me a nasty stab on the shoulder, but 
before he could strike again I had run him through. By 
this time several other men ran out of the tent, uttering 
exclamations of rage at seeing their fallen comrade. 

“ ‘What is it, sir?’ they asked me. 

“ ‘This scoundrel, here, has stabbed your comrade,’ I 
said. ‘ He did not see me coming, and I ran up just as 
he was, I think, rifling him for booty. He came at me 
like a wild cat, and has given me a nasty stab. How- 
ever, I have put an end to his game. Is your comrade 
dead ?’ 

“ ‘ No, sir, he is breathing still, but I fancy there is 
little chance for him.’ 

“‘You had better carry him to the hospital tent at 
once ; I will send a surgeon there.’ 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


21 


“ I called the regimental surgeon up, and went with 
him to the hospital tent, telling him what had happened. 
He shook his head after examining the man’s wound, 
which was fairly between the shoulders. 

“ ‘ He may live a few hours, but there is no chance 
of his getting better.’ 

“ 4 Now,’ I said, ‘ you may as well have a look at my 
wound, for the villain stabbed me, too.’ 

“ ‘ You have had a pretty narrow escape of it,’ he 
said, as he examined it. ‘ If he had struck an inch or 
two nearer the shoulder the knife would have gone 
right into you ; but you see I expect he was springing 
as he struck, and the blow fell nearly perpendicularly, 
and it glanced down over your ribs, and made a gash 
six inches long. There is no danger ; I will bandage it 
now, and to-morrow morning I will sew the edges to- 
gether, and make a proper job of it.’ 

“ In the morning one of the hospital attendants came 
to me and said the soldier who had been wounded 
wanted to speak to me. The doctor said he would not 
live long. I went across to him. He was on a bed 
some little distance from any of the others, for it was 
the healthy season, and there were only three or four 
others in the tent. 

“ ‘ I hear, Major Thorndyke,’ he said, in a low voice, 
‘ that you killed that fellow who gave me this wound, 
and that you yourself were stabbed.’ 

“ ‘ Mine is not a serious business, my man,’ I said. 

‘ I wish you had got off as easily.’ 

“ ‘I have been expecting it, sir,’ he said, ‘and how I 
came to be fool enough to go outside the tent by my- 


22 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


self I cannot think. I was uneasy, and could not sleep 
— I felt hot and feverish, and came out for a breath of 
fresh air. I will tell you what caused it, sir. About 
two years ago a cousin of mine, in one of the king’s 
regiments, who was dying, they said, of fever (but I 
know the doctors thought he had been poisoned), said 
to me, “ Here are some things that will make your for- 
tune if ever you get to England ; but I tell you before- 
hand they are dangerous things to keep about you. I 
fancy that they have something to do with my being 
like this now. A year ago I went with some others 
into one of their great temples on a feast day. Well, 
the god had got on all his trinkets, and among them 
was a bracelet with the biggest diamond I ever saw. I 
did not think so much of it at the time, but I kept on 
thinking of them afterwards, and it happened that some 
months after our visit we took the place by storm. I 
made straight for the temple, and I got the jewels. It 
don’t matter how I got them — I got them. Well, since 
that I have never had any peace ; pretty near every 
night one or other of our tents was turned topsy-turvy, 
all the kits turned out, and even the ground dug up 
with knives. You know how silently Indian thieves 
can work. However, nothing was ever stolen, and as 
for the bracelet, at the end of every day’s march I 
always went out as soon as it was quite dark, and 
buried it between the tent pegs ; it did not take a 
minute to do. When we moved, of course, I took it 
up again. At last I gave that up, for however early I 
turned out in the morning, there was sure to be a native 
about. I took then to dropping it down the barrel of 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


23 


my gun ; that way I beat them. Still, I have always 
somehow felt myself watched, and my tent has been 
disturbed a great deal oftener than any of the others. 
I have had half a mind to throw the things away many 
a time, but I could not bring myself to do it” 

“ * Well, sir, I have carried the bracelet ever since. 
I have done as he did, and always had it in my musket 
barrel. When we had fighting to do I would drop it 
out into my hand and slip it into my ammunition 
pouch ; but I know that I have always been followed 
just as Bill was. I suppose they found out that I went 
to see him before he died. Anyhow, my tent has been 
rummaged again and again. I have no doubt that fel- 
low whom you killed last night had been watching me 
all the time, and thought that I had come out to hide 
the things. However, there they are, sir. One of my 
mates brought my musket here a quarter of an hour 
ago, and emptied the barrel out for me. Now, sir, you 
did your best to save my life last night, and you killed 
that fellow who did for me, and you pretty nearly got 
killed yourself. 

“ ‘ I have got no one else I could give the things to, 
and if I were to give them to one of my mates in the 
regiment they would probably cost him his life as they 
have cost me mine. But you will know what to do 
with the things ; they are worth a lot of money if you 
can get them home. Mind, sir, you have got to be 
careful. I have heard tales of how those priests will 
follow up a temple jewel that has been lost for years, 
and never give it up until they get it back again.’ 

“ ‘ I ought to give it up,’ I said. 


24 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ ‘ You don’t know where it came from, sir,’ he re- 
plied. ‘ I was one of a party of convalescents who 
were sent up just before that fight, and my own regi- 
ment was not there ; it might have been here, and it 
might have been in the Carnatic. Bill never told me, 
and I have no more idea than a babe unborn.’ 

“ The gems were certainly magnificent, and though I 
knew well enough that these untiring Brahmins would 
not be long in guessing that the things had come into 
my possession, I took the bracelet. I thought, any- 
how, that I might have a few hours start ; the fellow I 
had killed might, of course, have one or two others 
with him, but I had to risk that. I got leave an hour 
later, and went down to Madras and got them put into 
a place of safety. That I was watched all the time I 
was in India afterwards I have no doubt, but no at- 
tempts were made to assassinate me. They would 
have known that I went straight away, but whether I 
had buried them somewhere on the road, or had given 
them to someone’s care at Madras they could not know, 
and there was therefore nothing for them to do but to 
wait till I made a move. 

“ I have no doubt whatever that they came over in the 
same ship with me. Two or three times during the week 
I was in London I saw coloured men in the street out- 
side the hotel. Once it was a Lascar seaman, another 
time a dark-looking sailor in European clothes : he might 
pass for a Spaniard. Several times as I was going about 
in a Sedan chair I looked out suddenly, and each time 
there was a dark face somewhere in the street behind. 
I had a letter this morning from Clipstone, and he men- 



“ T looked out suddenly, and each time there was a dark face 
somewhere in the street behind.” 

























































































































































• • 

















THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


25 


tioncd that two days ago his offices had been broken into, 
and every strong box and drawer forced open, but that, 
curiously enough, they could not find that anything had 
been stolen, though in the cashier’s box there were 
£30 in gold. Of course it was my friend’s. I have 
no doubt that one or two of them followed me down 
here ; and for anything I know, they may be lurking 
somewhere in your garden at the present moment, — that 

is, if they are not sitting bodily in this room.” 

John Thorndyke looked round with an uncomfortable 
feeling. 

“ How do you mean, George ?” 

“ I mean some of those Indian fellows can do all sorts 
of wonderful conjuring tricks. I have seen them go up 
into the air on a rope and never come down again, and 
for aught I know they may be able to render themselves 
invisible. Seriously, I think that it is as likely as not.” 

“Well, and where are the things to be found now, 
George ?” 

“That I won’t tell you, John. Before I go I will 
whisper it in your ear, and give you the means of finding 
them, but not till then. No, I will write it down on a 
piece of paper and slip it into your hand ; as soon as you 
get out of the room you glance at it, and then put the 
piece of paper into your mouth, chew it up, and swallow 

it. I tell you I dare not even whisper it ; but whatever 
you do, take no steps in the matter until your son comes 
of age.” 

“ There can surely be no danger in another thirteen 
or fourteen years, George ; they will have given up the 
search long before that.” 


26 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“Not they,” the colonel said, emphatically. “ If they 
die, others will take their places : it is a sacred business 
with them. My advice to you is, either sell them directly 
you get them into your hands, or go straight to Amster- 
dam and sell them there to one of the diamond-cutters, 
who will turn them out so that they will be altered be- 
yond all recognition. Don’t sell more than two stones 
at most to any one man ; then they will never come out 
as a bracelet again, and the hunt will be over.” 

“ I would almost rather leave them alone altogether, 
George.” 

“Well, they are worth ^50,000 if they are worth a 
penny, and a great deal more, I should say ; but you 
cannot leave them alone without leaving everything 
alone, for all my gems are with them, and .£52,000 in 
gold. Of course, if you like, you can, when you get 
the box, pick those diamonds out and chuck them away, 
but if you do you must do it openly, so that anyone 
watching you may see you do it, otherwise the search 
will go on.” 

Two days later, as Ramoo was helping the colonel to 
the sofa, the latter was seized with a violent fit of cough- 
ing, then a rush of blood poured from his lips. His 
brother and Ramoo laid him on the sofa almost insen- 
sible. 

“ Run and get some water, Ramoo,” John Thorndyke 
said. 

As Ramoo left the room the colonel feebly placed his 
snuff-box in his brother’s hand with a significant glance ; 
then he made several desperate efforts to speak, and tried 
to struggle up into a sitting position ; another gush of 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


27 

blood poured from him, and as it ceased he fell back 
dead. 

John Thorndyke was bitterly grieved at the death of 
his brother, and it was not until he went up to his room 
that night that he thought of the snuff-box that he had 
dropped into his pocket as his brother handed it to him. 
He had no doubt that it contained the instructions as to 
the treasure. It was of Indian manufacture ; he emptied 
the snuff from it, but it contained nothing else. He was 
convinced that the secret must be hidden there, and after 
in vain endeavouring to find a spring, he took a poker 
and hammered it, and as it bent a spring gave way, and 
showed a very shallow false bottom. 

In this was a thin gold coin, evidently of considerable 
antiquity, and a small piece of paper, on which was 
written the word “ Masulipatam.” John Thorndyke 
looked at it in bewilderment ; that it was connected 
with the secret he felt certain, but alone it was absolutely 
useless. Doubtless his brother had intended to give 
him the key of the riddle when he had so desperately 
striven to speak. After in vain thinking the matter 
over he said, — 

“Well, thank goodness, there is nothing to be done 
about the matter for another thirteen or fourteen years ; 
it is of no use worrying about it now.” 

He went to the old-fashioned cabinet and placed the 
coin and piece of paper in a very cunningly devised 
secret drawer. The next morning he went out into the 
garden and dropped the battered snuff-box into the 
well, and then dismissed the subject from his mind. 



CHAPTER II. 

S TANDING some two miles out of Reigate is the 
village of Crowswood, a quiet place and fairly 
well to do, thanks in no small degree to Squire 
Thorndyke, who owned the whole of the parish, and by 
whom and his tenants the greater portion of the village 
were employed. 

Greatly had the closing of the Manor House, after the 
death of old Squire Thorndyke, been felt. There were 
no more jellies, soups, and other comforts to be looked 
for in time of sickness, no abatement of rent when the 
bread-winner was sick or disabled, no check to the 
drunkards whom the knowledge that they would be 
turned out of their cottage at a week’s notice kept in 
some sort of order. When, therefore, after ten years of 
absence of all government, John Thorndyke, after the 
death of his brother, the colonel, came down and took 
possession, he found the place sadly changed from what 
it had been when he had left it twenty years before. 
His first act was to dismiss Newman, who, completely 
28 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


29 

unchecked, had, he found, been sadly mismanaging 
affairs. 

It was not long, however, before his hand made itself 
felt: two out of the three public-houses were shut up 
in six months ; a score of their habitual frequenters had 
weeks before been turned out of their cottages ; an 
order had been issued that, unless a cottage was kept 
in good order and the garden bright and blooming 
with flowers in the summer, a fresh tenant would be 
found for it Every child must be sent to the village 
school ; the Squire was ready to do what there was to 
be done in the way of thatching and white-washing, 
repairing palings, and painting doors and windows, 
but, as he told the people, the village had to be kept 
clean and decent, and anyone who would not con- 
form to the rules was at liberty to leave without a day’s 
notice. 

No one rejoiced more at the coming home of the 
Squire than Mr. Bastow, the rector. He had had a 
pleasant time of it during the life of the old Squire. 
He was always a welcome guest at the house ; old Mr. 
Thorndyke had been always ready to put his hand into 
his pocket for any repairs needed for the church, and 
bore on his shoulders almost the entire expense of the 
village school. In the latter respect there had been no 
falling off, he having given explicit instructions to his 
solicitors to pay his usual annual subscriptions to the 
school until his son’s return from India. But with the 
death of the Squire the rector had gradually lost all 
authority in the village. 

For a time force of habit had had its effect, but as this 


30 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


wore out and the people recognised that he had no real 
authority, things went from bad to worse. Drunken 
men would shout jeeringly as they passed the rectory 
on their way home from the ale-house ; women no longer 
feared reproof for the untidiness of their houses and 
children ; the school was half emptied and the church 
almost wholly so. 

For seven or eight years Mr. Bastow had a hard time 
of it. It was, then, both with pleasure as an old friend, 
and with renewed hopefulness for the village, that he 
visited John Thorndyke on his return. The change was 
almost instantaneous. As soon as it became known that 
the rector was backed, heart and soul, by the Squire’s 
authority, and that a complaint from him was followed 
the next day by a notice to quit at the end of a week, 
his own authority was established as firmly as it had 
been in the old Squire’s time, and in a couple of years 
Crowswood became quite a model village. Every gar- 
den blossomed with flowers ; roses and eglantine clus- 
tered over the cottages ; neatness and order prevailed 
everywhere. The children were tidily dressed and re- 
spectful in manner, the women bright and cheerful, and 
the solitary ale-house remaining had but few customers, 
and those few were never allowed to transgress the 
bounds of moderation. The Squire had a talk with the 
landlord a fortnight after his arrival. 

“I am not going to turn you out, Peters,” he said. 
“ I hear that you make some efforts to keep your house 
decently ; the other two I shall send packing directly 
their terms are up. Whether you remain permanently 
must depend upon yourself. I will do up your house 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


3 


for you and build a bar parlour alongside, where quiet 
men can sit and smoke their pipes and talk and take 
their beer in comfort, and have liberty to enjoy them- 
selves as long as their enjoyment does not cause annoy- 
ance to other people or keep their wives and children 
in rags. I will do anything for you if I find the place 
well conducted ; but I warn you that I will have no 
drunkenness. A man who, to my knowledge, gets 
drunk twice, will not get drunk a third time in this 
parish, and if you let men get drunk here it is your 
fault as much as theirs. Now we understand each 
other.” 

When the Squire was at home there was scarce an 
evening when the rector did not come' up to smoke a 
pipe and take his glass of old Jamaica or Hollands with 
him. 

“ Look here, Bastow,” the latter said, some three 
years after his return, “ what are you going to do with 
that boy of yours ? I hear bad reports of him from 
everyone ; he gets into broils at the ale-house, and I 
hear that he consorts with a bad lot of fellows down at 
Reigate. One of my tenants — I won’t mention names 
— complained to me that he had persecuted his daugh- 
ter with his attentions. They say he was recognised 
among that poaching gang that had an affray with Sir 
James Hartrop’s keepers. The thing is becoming a 
gross scandal.” 

“ I don’t know what to do about him, Squire ; the 
boy has always been a trouble to me. You see, before 
you came home he got into bad hands in the village 
here ; of course they have all gone, but several of them 


32 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


only moved as far as Reigate, and he kept up their 
acquaintance. I thrashed him again and again, but he 
has got beyond that now, you see ; he is nearly eighteen, 
and openly scoffs at my authority. Upon my word, I 
don’t know what to do in the matter.” 

“He is growing up a thorough young ruffian,” the 
Squire said, indignantly, “ and one of these mornings I 
expect to see him brought up before us charged with 
some serious offence. We had to fine him last week 
for being drunk and making a disturbance down at 
Reigate. Why do you let him have money? You 
may have no authority over him, but, at least, you 
should refuse to open your purse to him. Don’t you 
see that this sort of thing is not only a disgrace to him, 
but very prejudicial to the village? What authority 
can you have for speaking against vice and drunken- 
ness, when your son is constantly intoxicated ?” 

“ I see that, Squire, none better ; and I have thought 
of resigning my cure.” 

“ Stuff and nonsense, parson ! If the young fellow 
persists in his present course he must leave the village, 
that is clear enough ; but that is no reason why you 
should. The question is, what is to be done with him ? 
The best thing he could do would be to enlist. He 
might be of some service to his country, in India or the 
American colonies, but so far as I can see he is only 
qualifying himself for a gaol here.” 

“ I have told him as much, Squire,” Mr. Bastow said, 
in a depressed voice, “and he has simply laughed in 
my face and said that he was very comfortable where 
he was, and had no idea whatever of moving.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


33 


“What time does he go out in the morning?” John 
Thorndyke asked, abruptly. 

“ He never gets up till twelve o’clock, and has his 
breakfast when I take my dinner.” 

“Well, I will come in to-morrow morning and have a 
talk with him myself.” 

The next day the Squire rode up to the door of the 
rectory soon after one o’clock. Mr. Bastow had just 
finished his meal ; his son, a young fellow of between 
seventeen and eighteen, was lolling in an easy-chair. 

“ I have come in principally to speak to you, young 
sir,” John Thorndyke said, quietly. “I have been ask- 
ing your father what you intend to do with yourself. 
He says he does not know.” 

The young fellow looked up with an air of insolent 
effrontery. 

“ I don’t know that it is any business of yours, Mr. 
Thorndyke, what I do with myself.” 

“ Oh, yes, it is,” the Squire replied. “ This village 
and the people in it are mine ; you are disturbing the 
village with your blackguard conduct ; you are annoying 
some of the girls on the estate, and altogether you are 
making yourself a nuisance. I stopped at the ale-house 
as I came here, and ordered the landlord to draw no 
more liquor for you ; and unless you amend your con- 
duct, and that quickly, I will have you out of the village 
altogether.” 

“ I fancy, Mr. Thorndyke, that even as a justice of the 
peace you have not the power to dictate to my father 
who shall be the occupant of this house.” 

“ What you say is perfectly true ; but as you make 
3 


34 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


your father’s life a burden to him, and he is desirous of 
your absence, I can and will order the village constable 
to remove you from his house by force, if necessary.” 

The young fellow cast an evil glance at his father. 

“He has not been complaining, has he?” he said, 
with a sneer. 

“ He has not, sir,” John Thorndyke said, indignantly ; 
“ it is I who have been complaining to him, and he ad- 
mits that you are altogether beyond his authority. I 
have pointed out to him that he is in no way obliged to 
support you at your age in idleness and dissipation, and 
that it were best for him and all concerned that he should 
close his doors to you. I don’t want to have to send the 
son of my old friend to prison, but I can see well enough 
that that is what it will come to if you don’t give up your 
evil courses. I should think you know by this time that 
I am a man of my word. I have taken some pains to 
purge this village of all bad characters, and I do not in- 
tend to have an exception made of the son of the clergy- 
man, who in his family, as well as in his own person, is 
bound to set an example.” 

“ Well, Mr. Thorndyke, I utterly decline to obey your 
orders or to be guided by your advice.” 

“Very well, sir,” the magistrate said, sternly. “Mr. 
Bastow, do I understand that you desire that your son 
shall no longer remain an inmate of your house ?” 

“I do,” the clergyman said, firmly ; “and if he does 
so I have no other course before me but to resign my 
living ; my position here has become absolutely un- 
bearable.” 

“Very well, sir, then you will please lock your doors 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


?5 

to-night, and if he attempts to enter, I, as a magistrate, 
should know how to deal with him. Now, young sir, 
you understand your position ; you may not take my 
advice ; nevertheless, I shall give it you. The best 
thing you can do is to take your place for town on the 
outside of the coach that comes through Reigate this 
afternoon, and to-morrow morning proceed either to the 
recruiting office for His Majesty’s service, or to that for 
the East India Company’s. You have health and 
strength, you will get rid at once of your bad associates, 
and will start afresh in a life in which you may redeem 
your past and be useful to your king and country.” 

Young Bastow smiled. 

“Thanks,” he said, sarcastically, “I have my own 
plans, and shall follow them.” 

“ I think, Mr. Bastow,” the Squire said, quietly, “ it 
would be just as well for you to come home with me ; I 
don’t think that the leave-taking is likely to be an affec- 
tionate one.” 

The rector rose at once. 

“ I will come with you, Squire. I may tell you now, 
what I have not told you before, that my son has more 
than once raised his hand against me, and that I do not 
care to be left alone with him.” 

“ I judged him capable even of that, Mr. Bastow.” 

“ Good-bye, Arthur,” his father said ; “ my heart is 
ready to break that it has come to this, but for both 
our sakes it is better so. Good-bye, my son, and may 
heaven lead you to better ways. If ever you come to 
me and say, ‘ Father I have turned over a new leaf, 
and heartily repent the trouble I have caused you,’ 


36 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


you will receive a hearty welcome from me, and no words 
of reproach for the past.” 

The young man paid no attention to the offered 
hand, but laughed scornfully. 

“You have not got rid of me yet,” he said. “As 
for you, Squire Thorndyke, I shall not forget your 
meddlesome interference, and some day, maybe, you 
will be sorry for it. ” 

“I think not,” John Thorndyke said, gravely. “I 
am doing my duty to the village, and still more I am 
doing my duty to an old friend, and I am not likely 
ever to feel any regret that I have so acted. Now, 
parson, let’s be off.” 

After leaving the house with the clergyman, the 
Squire stopped at the house of Knapp, the village 
constable, and said a few words to him, then, leading 
his horse, walked home with Mr. Bastow. 

“Don’t be cast down, old friend,” he said; “it is 
a terrible trial to you, but it is one sharp wrench, and 
then it will be over. Anything is better than what you 
must have been suffering for some time.” 

“ I quite feel that, Squire ; my life has, indeed, been 
intolerable of late. I had a painful time before, but 
always looked forward with hope to your brother 
coming home. Since you returned, and matters in 
the parish have been put straight, this trouble has 
come in to take the place of the other, and I have 
felt that I would rather resign and beg for charity than 
see my son going from bad to worse, a scandal to the 
parish, and a hinderance to all good work.” 

“ It is a bad business, Bastow, and it seems to me 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


3 7 


that two or three years in prison would be the best 
thing for him, as he will not take up the only trade 
open to him. At any rate, it would separate him from 
his evil associates, and give you peace while he is behind 
the bars. Where does he get his money?” 

“ That I know not, Squire. He takes some from me, — 
it used to be done secretly, now it is done with threats, 
and, as I told you, with violence, — but that would not 
account for his always having money. He must get it 
somewhere else, for when I have paid my bills, as I 
always do the hour that I receive money, there is but 
little over for him to take. He is often away all night, 
sometimes for two or three days together, and I dare 
not think what he does with himself, but certainly he 
gets money somehow, and I am afraid that I cannot 
hope that it is honestly obtained.” 

“ I do not well see how it can be,” the Squire agreed. 
“ If I had before known as much as you tell me now, I 
would have taken some steps to have him watched, and 
to nip the matter before it went too far. Do you think 
that he will take your notice and come no more to the 
house ?” 

Mr. Bastow shook his head. 

“ I fear that the only effect will be to make him worse ; 
even when he was quite a small boy punishment only 
had that effect with him. He will come back to-night 
probably half-drunk, and certainly furious at my having 
ventured to lay the case before you.” 

“ You must lock the doors and bar the windows.” 

“ I did that when he first took to being out at night, 
but he always managed to get in somehow.” 


33 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“Well, it must be all put a stop to, Bastow, and I will 
come back with you this evening, and if this young 
rascal breaks into the house I will have him down at 
Reigate to-morrow on the charge of house-breaking ; or, 
at any rate, I will threaten to do so if he does not 
give a promise that he will in future keep away from 
you altogether.” 

“ I shall be glad, at any rate, if you will come down, 
Squire, for, to say the truth, I feel uneasy as to the 
steps he may take in his fury at our conversation just 
now.” 

At nine o’clock John Thorn dyke took down from the 
wall a heavy hunting whip, as he went out with the 
parson. He had in vain endeavoured to cheer his old 
friend as they sat over their steaming glasses of Jamaica. 
The parson had never been a strong man ; he was of a 
kindly disposition and an unwearied worker when there 
was an opportunity for work, but he had always shrunk 
from unpleasantness, and was ready to yield rather than 
bring about trouble. He had for a long time suffered 
in silence, and had not the Squire himself approached 
the subject of his son’s delinquencies, he would have 
never opened his mouth about it. Now, however, that 
he had done so, and the squire had taken the matter in 
hand, and had laid down what was to be done, and 
though he trembled at the prospect, he did not even 
think of opposing his plan, and, indeed, could think of 
no alternative for it. 

“I have told John Knapp to be here,” the Squire 
said, as they reached the house. “It is just as well that 
he should be present if your son comes back again. He 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


39 

is a quiet, trustworthy fellow, and will keep his mouth 
shut if I tell him.” 

Mr. Bastow made no reply. It was terrible to him 
that there should be another witness to his son’s con- 
duct, but he saw that the Squire was right. 

An old woman opened the door. 

“Are all the shutters closed and barred?” John 
Thorndyke asked her. 

“Yes, sir; I always sees to that as soon as it gets 
dark.” 

“Very well, you can go to bed now, Eliza,” her mas- 
ter said. “ Is John Knapp here?” 

“Yes, sir; he came an hour ago, and is sitting in 
the kitchen.” 

“ I will call him in myself when I want to speak to 
him.” 

As soon as the old servant had gone upstairs the 
Squire went into the kitchen, Mr. Bastow having gone 
to the cellar to fetch up a bottle of old brandy that was 
part of a two-dozen case given to him by the old Squire 
fifteen years before. 

“Do you go round the house, John, and see that 
everything is properly fastened up. I see that you have 
got a jug of beer there. You had better get a couple 
of hours’ sleep on that settle. I shall keep watch till I 
am sleepy, and then I will call you. Let me know if 
you find any of the doors or windows unbarred.” 

Five minutes later the constable knocked at the door 
of the parlour. 

“ The door opening into the stable-yard was unbarred, 
Squire.” 


40 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ I thought it likely that it would be so, Knapp. You 
have made it fast now, I suppose. That is right ; now 
lie down as I told you ; it is scarce likely that he will be 
back until late. That was the old woman, of course,” 
he went on to his companion when the door closed be- 
hind the constable. “ I thought it likely enough that he 
might tell her to leave a way for him to come in ; you 
told me that she had been with you a good many years. 
I dare say she has left that door unbarred for him many 
a time. I should advise you to get a man to sleep in 
the house regularly ; there are plenty of fellows who will 
be glad to do it for a shilling or two a week ; and I do 
not think that it is safe for you to be here alone.” 

An hour later he said to the rector, — 

“ Now, Bastow, you had best go to bed. I have taken 
the matter into my own hands, and will carry it through. 
However, I won’t have him taken away without your 
being present, and will call you when we want you. Of 
course, if he will give a solemn promise not to molest 
you, and, even if he won’t enlist, to leave this part of the 
country altogether, I shall let him off.” 

“ There is one thing, Mr. Thorndyke, that I have not 
told you,” the rector said, hesitatingly. “Sometimes, 
when he comes , home late, he brings someone with him ; 
I have heard voices downstairs. I have never seen who 
it was, — for what could I have done if I had gone 
down ? — but I have heard horses brought round to the 
stable-yard and heard them ride away.” 

“ It is just as well you told me,” the Squire said, dryly. 
“ If you had told me this evening at the house, I would 
have dropped a brace of pistols into my pocket. How- 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


4i 


ever, this hunting crop is a good weapon ; but I don’t 
suppose they will show fight, even if anyone is with him ; 
besides, Knapp has a stout oaken cudgel with him. I 
noticed it standing against his chair as I went in ; and 
as he is a strong, active fellow, and we shall have the 
advantage of a surprise, I fancy we should be a match 
even for three or four of them.” 

At one o’clock the Squire roused John Knapp. 

“ It is one o’clock, John ; now take off your boots. I 
don’t want him to know that there is anyone in the house 
till we get hold of him. I am going to lie down on the 
sofa in the parlour. The moment you hear footsteps 
you come and wake me.” 

The clock in the kitchen had just struck two when the 
constable shook John Thorndyke. 

“ There are two horses just coming into the yard.” 

“ All right. I opened a window in the room looking 
down into the yard before I lay down. I will go up and 
see what they are going to do. If they try to break in 
anywhere down here, do you come at once quietly up to 
me.” 

The Squire had taken off his boots before he lay down, 
and holding his heavy hunting crop in his hand, he went 
quietly upstairs. As he went to the window he heard 
Arthur Bastow say, angrily, — 

“ Confound the old woman ! She has locked the 
door ; she has never played me that trick before. 
There is a ladder in the stable, and I will get in at that 
window up there and open it for you. Or you may as 
well come up that way, too, and then you can stow the 
things away in my room at once, and have done with it.” 


42 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


The Squire went hastily down. 

“Come upstairs, Knapp,” he whispered to the con- 
stable; “there are three of them, and I fancy the two 
mounted men are highwaymen. Let them all get in, 
keeping yourself well back from the window. The 
moon is round on the other side of the house, but it 
will be light enough for us to see them as they get in. 
I will take the last fellow, and I will warrant that he will 
give no trouble ; then I will fall upon the second, and 
do you spring on young Bastow. The two highwaymen 
are sure to have pistols, and he may have some also. 
Give him a clip with that cudgel of yours first, then 
spring on him, and hold his arms tightly by his side. 
If I call you, give him a back heel and throw him 
smartly, and come to my aid. I don’t think that I shall 
want it, but it is as well to prepare for anything.” 

They went upstairs and took their places, one on each 
side of the window, standing three or four feet back. 
Just as they took up their positions the top of the stable 
ladder appeared above the sill of the window. Half a 
minute later young Bastow’s head appeared, and he 
threw up the sash still higher and stepped into the room ; 
then he turned and helped two men in one after the 
other. 

“Follow me,” he said, “then you won’t tumble over 
the furniture.” As they turned, the heavy handle of 
John Thorndyke’s whip fell with tremendous force on 
the head of the last man. 

“What the devil!” the other exclaimed, snatching 
out a pistol and turning round, as the falling body struck 
him, but he got no further. Again the heavy whip de~ 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


43 


scended, this time on his right arm ; it dropped useless 
by his side, and the pistol fell from his hand. Then 
John Thorndyke fell upon him and bore him to the 
ground, snatched the other pistol from his belt, and held 
it to his head. 

“ Now, my man,” he said, quietly, “if you don’t sur- 
render I will blow out your brains.” 

“ I surrender,” the man moaned. “ I believe that 
you have broken my arm ; curse you, whoever you are.” 

The struggle between John Knapp and young Bastow 
was soon over. The young fellow was lithe and sinewy, 
but he was no match for the constable, who, indeed, 
had almost overpowered him before he was aware what 
had happened. 

“Has he got pistols, Knapp?” the Squire asked. 

“Yes, sir, a brace of them; I have got them both 
safely in my pocket There,” he went on, as a sharp 
click was heard, “ I have got the darbies on him. Now, 
shall I help you, sir?” 

“You had better run downstairs first and light a 
couple of candles at the kitchen fire ; you will find a 
pair standing on the parlour table. Don’t be long about 
it ; the first fellow I hit was stunned, and he may come 
round any moment.” 

“ I will make sure of him before I go, Squire. I 
have got another pair of darbies in my pocket.” 

As soon as he had fastened these upon the wrists of 
the insensible man he ran downstairs, and in a minute 
returned with the candles. 

“ I am glad that you are back,” the Squire said. “ I 
was afraid that young rascal would try to escape.” 


44 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ I took good care of that, Squire ; you see I put one 
of his arms round the bedpost before I slipped the 
darbies on, and he cannot get away unless he takes the 
whole bed with him, and as I don’t think he would get 
it out either by the window or the door, he is as safe 
here as he would be in Newgate. What is the next 
thing to do, Squire?” 

“You had better tie this fellow’s legs. I will leave 
you a candle here, and you can keep guard over them 
while I go and wake Mr. Bastow.” 

The rector needed no waking ; he was walking up 
and down his room in great distress. He had not un- 
dressed, but had thrown himself upon his bed. 

“What has happened, Thorn dyke?” he asked, as the 
Squire entered. “ I heard two heavy falls, and I felt 
that something terrible had taken place. ” 

“Well, it has been a serious matter, very serious. 
That unfortunate son of yours is not hurt, but I don’t 
know but that the best thing that could have happened 
would have been for him to have got a bullet through 
his head. He brought home with him two men who 
are, I have little doubt, highwaymen ; anyhow, each 
had a brace of pistols in his belt, and from what he 
said I think they have been stopping a coach. At 
any rate, they have something with them that they were 
going to hide here, and I fancy it is not the first time 
that it has been done. I don’t expect your son had 
anything to do with the robbery, though he was carry- 
ing a brace of pistols too. However, we have got 
them all three. 

“Now, you see, Bastow, this takes the affair alto- 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


45 


gether out of our hands. I had hoped that when we 
caught your son in the act of breaking into your house 
after you had ordered him from it, we should be able to 
frighten him into enlisting, or, at any rate, into promising 
to disturb you no more, for even if we had taken him 
before the bench, nothing could have been done to him, 
for under such circumstances his re-entering the house 
could not be looked upon as an act of burglary. As 
it is, the affair is altogether changed. Even if I wished 
it, as a magistrate I could not release those two high- 
waymen. They must appear as prisoners in court. I 
shall hear down in the town to-morrow morning what 
coach has been stopped, and I have no doubt that they 
have on them the proceeds of the robbery. Your son 
was consorting with and aiding them, and acting as a 
receiver of stolen goods, and as you have heard horses 
here before, it is probable that when his room is thor- 
oughly searched we shall come upon a number of 
articles of the same sort. I am sorry that I ever 
meddled in the matter ; but it is too late for that now. 
You had better come downstairs with me, and we will 
take a turn in the garden and try and see what had 
best be done.” 


CHAPTER III. 


J OHN THORNDYKE opened the shutters of the 
parlour window, and stepped out into the garden 
alone, for the rector was too unnerved and shat- 
tered to go out with him, but threw himself on the 
sofa completely prostrated. Half an hour later, the 
Squire re-entered the room. The morning was just 
beginning to break. Mr. Bastow raised his head and 
looked sadly at him. 

“ I can see no way out of it, old friend. Were it 
not that he is in charge of the constable, I should have 
said that your only course was to aid your son to escape ; 
but Knapp is a shrewd fellow, as well as an honest one. 
You cannot possibly get your son away without his 
assistance, for he is handcuffed to the bed, and Knapp, 
in so serious a matter as this, would not, I am sure, lend 
himself to an escape. I have no doubt that with my 
influence with the other magistrates, and, indeed, on the 
circumstances of the case, they will commit him on a 
minor charge only, as the passengers of the coach will 
46 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


47 


no doubt give evidence that it was stopped by mounted 
men alone. I think I can get Knapp to hold his 
tongue as to your son having pistols on him when he 
arrested him, and I think, therefore, that he would only 
be charged with consorting with and aiding the high- 
waymen after the event, and of aiding them to con- 
ceal stolen goods, that is, if any are found in his room. 

“ That much stolen property has been hidden there, 
there is little reason to doubt, but it may have been 
removed shortly afterwards. It was, of course, very 
convenient for them to have some place where they 
could take things at once and then ride on quietly to 
London the next day, for, if arrested, nothing would be 
found upon them, and it would be impossible to con- 
nect them with the robbery. Later on they might 
have come back again and got them from him. Of 
course, if nothing is found in his room, we get rid of 
the charge of receiving altogether, and there would be 
nothing but harbouring, aiding, and abetting, a much 
less serious business. Look here, old friend, I will 
strain a point. I will go out into the garden again and 
walk about for an hour, and while I am out, if you 
should take advantage of my absence to creep up to 
your son’s room and to search it thoroughly, examining 
every board on the floor, to see if it is loose, and 
should you find anything concealed, to take it and 
hide it, of course I cannot help it. The things, if there 
are any, might secretly be packed up by you in a box 
and sent up to Bow Street, with a line inside, saying 
that they are proceeds of robbery, and that you hope 
the owners will be traced and their property restored to 


48 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


them. Not, of course, in your own hand, and without 
a signature. There might be some little trouble in 
managing it, but it could no doubt be done.” 

John Thorndyke went out into the garden without 
another word. The hour was nearly up when Mr. Bas- 
tow came out ; he looked ten years older than he had 
done on the previous day ; he wrung his friend’s hand. 

“Thank God, I have been up there!” he said. “I 
do not think they will find anything.” 

“Say nothing about it, Bastow. I don’t want to know 
whether you found anything. Now I am going to fetch 
two or three of the men from the village, to get them to 
aid the constable in keeping guard, and another to go 
up to the house at once and order a groom to saddle 
one of my horses and bring it here.” 

As it was now past five o’clock, and the Squire found 
most of the men getting up, he sent one off to the house 
with the message and returned with two others to the 
rectory. He told them briefly that two highwaymen 
had been arrested during the night, and that as young 
Mr. Bastow was in their company at the time it had 
been necessary as a matter of form to arrest him also. 
He went upstairs with the two labourers. 

“ I have brought up two men to sit with you, Knapp, 
until the Reigate constables come up. You can take 
those handcuffs off Mr. Bastow, but see that he does 
not leave the room ; and do you yourself sit in a chair 
against the door, and place one of these men at the 
window. How about the others?” 

“The man you hit first, Squire, did not move until a 
quarter of an hour ago ; he has been muttering to him- 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


49 


self since, but I don’t think he is sensible. The other 
one has been quiet enough, but there is no doubt that 
his arm is broken.” 

“ I am going to ride down to Reigate at once, and will 
bring back a surgeon with me.” 

“You will repent this night’s business, Thorndyke,” 
Arthur Bastow said, threateningly. 

“ I fancy that you will repent it more than I shall, 
Bastow ; it is likely that you will have plenty of time to 
do so.” 

It was not long before the groom with the horse ar- 
rived. John Thorndyke went at a gallop to Reigate, 
and first called on the head constable. 

“ Dawney,” he said, as the man came down, partially 
dressed, at his summons, “has anything taken place 
during the night?” 

“ Yes, Squire, the up coach was stopped a mile before 
it got here, and the passengers robbed. It was due here 
at one, and did not come in till half an hour later. Of 
course, I was sent for. The guard was shot. There 
were two of the fellows. He let fly with his blunder- 
buss, but he does not seem to have hit either of them, 
and one rode up and shot him dead ; then they robbed 
all the passengers. They got six gold watches, some 
rings, and, adding up the amounts taken from all the 
passengers, about £\$o in money.” 

“Well, I fancy I’ve got your two highwaymen safe, 
Dawney.” 

“You have, sir?” the constable said, in astonish- 
ment. 

“ Yes. I happened to be at the rectory. Mr. Bastow 


50 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

had had a quarrel with his son, and had forbidden him 
the house.” 

The constable shook his head. 

“ I am afraid he is a very bad one, that young chap.” 

“ I am afraid he is, Dawney. However, his father 
was afraid that he might come in during the night and 
make a scene, so I said I would stop with him, and I 
took our village constable with me. At two o’clock 
this morning the young fellow came with two mounted 
men, whom I have no doubt are highwaymen. We had 
locked up down below. Bastow took a ladder, and the 
three got in at a bedroom window on the first floor. 
Knapp and I were waiting for them there, and, taking 
them by surprise, succeeded in capturing them before 
the highwaymen could use their pistols. The constable 
and two men are looking after them, but as one has not 
got over a knock I gave him on the head, and the other 
has a broken arm, there is little fear of their making 
their escape. You had better go up with two of your 
men and take a light cart with you with some straw in 
the bottom, and bring them down here. I will ride 
round myself to Mr. Chetwynde, Sir Charles Harris, and 
Mr. Merchison, and we will sit at twelve o’clock. You 
can send round a constable with the usual letters to the 
others, but those three will be quite enough for the pre- 
liminary examination.” 

“Well, Squire, that is good news, indeed. We have 
had the coach held up so often within five miles of this 
place during the past three months that we have been 
getting quite a bad name. And to think that young 
Bastow was in it ! I have heard some queer stories 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


5i 


about him, and fancied before long I should have to put 
my hand upon his shoulder, but I didn’t expect this.” 

‘ ‘ There is not a shadow of proof that he had anything 
to do with the robbery, Dawney, but he will have diffi- 
culty in proving that he did not afterwards abet them. 
It is serious enough as it is, and I am terribly grieved 
for his father’s sake.” 

“Yes, sir; I have always heard him spoken of as a 
kind gentleman, and one who took a lot of trouble 
whenever any one was sick. Well, sir, I will be off in 
twenty minutes. I will run round at once and send Dr. 
Hewett to the rectory, and a man shall start on horse- 
back at seven o’clock with the summons to the other 
magistrates. ” 

John Thorn dyke rode round to his three fellow magis- 
trates, who, living nearest to the town, were most regu- 
lar in their attendance at the meetings. They all listened 
in surprise to his narrative, and expressed great pleasure 
at hearing that the men who had been such a pest to 
the neighbourhood, and had caused them all personally 
a great deal of trouble, had been captured. All had 
heard tales, too, to Arthur Bastow’s disadvantage, and 
expressed great commiseration for his father. They 
agreed to meet at the court half an hour before busi- 
ness began, to talk the matter over together. 

“ It is out of the question that we can release him on 
bail,” the gentleman who was chairman of the bench 
said. 

“Quite so,” John Thorndyke agreed. “In the first 
place, the matter is too serious, and in the next he cer- 
tainly would not be able to find bail, and lastly, for his 


52 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


father’s sake, it is unadvisable that he should be let out ; 
at the same time, it appears to me that there is a broad 
distinction between his case and the others. I fear that 
there can be no question that he had prior acquaintance 
with these men, and that he was cognizant of the whole ; 
something I heard him say, and which, to my regret, I 
shall have to repeat in court, almost proves that he was 
so ; still, let us hope none of the stolen property will be 
found upon him ; whether they had intended to pass it 
over to his care or not is immaterial. If they had not 
done so, I doubt whether he could be charged with re- 
ceiving stolen goods, and we might make the charge 
simply one of aiding these two criminals, and of being so 
far an accessory after the crime. 

“ If we could soften it down still further, I should, 
for his father’s sake, be glad, but as far as he himself is 
concerned, I would do nothing to lighten his punish- 
ment ; he is about as bad a specimen of human nature as 
I ever came across. His father is in bodily fear of him. 
I saw him yesterday, and urged him to enlist in order 
to break himself loose from the bad companionship he 
had fallen into ; his reply was insolent and defiant in 
the highest degree, and it was then that in his father’s 
name I forbade him the house, and, as his father was 
present, he confirmed what I said, and told him that he 
would not have anything more to do with him. This 
affair may do him good, and save his neck from a noose. 
A few years at the hulks or a passage to Botany Bay 
will do him no harm, and, at any rate, his father will have 
rest and peace, which he never would have if he re- 
mained here.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


53 


A somewhat similar conversation took place at each 
house. John Thorn dyke breakfasted at Sir Charles Har- 
ris’s, the last of the three upon whom he called, and 
then mounting, rode back to Reigate. 

“We have found the plunder on them,” the head 
constable said, coming out of the lock-up as he drew 
rein before it, “ and, fortunately for young Bastow, noth- 
ing was found upon him.” 

“ How are the two men ?” 

“The fellow you hit is conscious now, sir, but very 
weak. The doctor says that if he hadn’t had a thick 
hat on, your blow would have killed him to a certainty. 
The other man’s arm is set and bandaged, and he is all 
right otherwise. We shall be able to have them both 
in court at twelve o’clock.” 

The Squire rode up to his house. He was met at the 
door by his son, in a state of great excitement. 

“Is it all true, father? The news has come from the 
village that you have killed two men, and that they and 
Arthur Bastow have all been taken away in a cart, 
guarded by constables.” 

“As usual, Mark, rumour has exaggerated matters. 
There are no dead men ; one certainly got a crack on 
the head that rendered him insensible for some time, 
and another’s arm is broken.” 

“And are they highwaymen, father? They say that 
two horses were fastened behind the cart.” 

“That is what we are going to try, Mark. Until 
their guilt is proved, no one knows whether they are 
highwaymen or not.” 

“And why is Arthur Bastow taken, father?” 


54 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ Simply because he was in company with the others. 
Now, you need not ask any more questions, but if you 
like to get your pony saddled and ride down with me 
to Reigate at eleven o’clock, I will get you into the 
court-house, and then you will hear all about it.” 

At greater length the Squire went into the matter 
with Mrs. Cunningham, his lady housekeeper, and his 
ward’s governess. 

“ It is a bad business, Mr. Thorndyke,” she said, 
“and must be terrible for poor Mr. Bastow.” 

“Yes, terrible. I sincerely hope that they will not 
summon him, but I am afraid that there is very little 
doubt about it ; they are sure to want to know about his 
son’s general conduct, though possibly the testimony on 
that point of the constable at Reigate will be sufficient. 
My own hope is that he will get a long sentence ; at 
any rate, one long enough to ensure his not coming 
back during his father’s lifetime. If you had seen his 
manner when we were talking to him yesterday, you 
would believe that he is capable of anything. I have had 
a good many bad characters before me during the year 
and a half that I have sat upon the bench, but I am bound 
to say that I never saw one that was to my eyes so thor- 
oughly evil as this young fellow. I don’t think,” he 
added, with a smile, “ that I should feel quite comfort- 
able myself if he were acquitted ; it will be a long 
time before I shall forget the expression of his face when 
he said to me this morning, ‘ You will repent this nights’ 
work, Thorndyke.’ ” 

“It is all very shocking,” the lady said. “What will 
poor Mr. Bastow do ? I should think that he would 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


55 

not like to remain as clergyman here, where everyone 
knows about it” 

“That must be for him to decide,” the Squire said ; 
“ but if he wishes to resign I certainly shall not press 
him to continue to hold the living. He is a very old 
friend of mine. My father presented the living to him 
when I was nine or ten years old, and I may say I saw 
him daily up to the time when I went down into Sussex. 
If he resigns, I should urge him to take up his residence 
here, and to act as Mark’s tutor ; and he might also 
relieve you of some of Millicent’s lessons. You have 
plenty to do in looking after the management of things 
in general. However, that is for the future.” 

At eleven o’clock the Squire drove down to Reigate, 
taking Mark with him. “ It will save all bother about 
putting up the horse and pony.” 

On arriving, he handed Mark over to the head con- 
stable and asked him to pass him into a seat in the 
court-house before the public were let in. Reigate was 
in a state of unusual unrest. That the coach should 
have been stopped and robbed was too common an 
event to excite much interest, but that two highwaymen 
should have been captured and, as was rumoured, a 
young gentleman brought in on a charge of being in 
connection with them, caused a thrill of excitement. 
Quite a small crowd was assembled before the court- 
house, and the name of Squire Thorndyke passed from 
mouth to mouth. 

All this added to the desire of those around to get 
into the court, and there was quite a rush when the 
doors were opened two minutes before twelve, and it 


56 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


was at once crammed, the constable having some diffi- 
culty in getting the doors shut, and in persuading those 
who could not get in that there was not standing room 
for anothef person. There was a buzz in court until 
the door opened and six magistrates came in. It was 
observed that John Thorn dyke did not seat himself 
with the others, but moved his chair a little apart from 
them, thus confirming the report that he was in some 
way connected with the matter, and did not intend to 
take any part in the decision. 

Then another door opened and the three prisoners 
were brought in. The two first were pale and evidently 
weak ; one had his head wrapped in bandages, the other 
had the right sleeve of his coat cut off, and his arm 
bandaged and supported by a sling. 

Both made a resolute effort to preserve a careless 
demeanour. The third, who was some years younger 
than the others, looked round with a smile on his lips, 
bowed to the magistrates with an air of insolent bravado 
when he was placed in the dock, and then leant easily 
in the corner, as if indifferent to the whole business. 
A chair was placed between his comrades for the use 
of the man whose head was bandaged. Many among 
those present knew Arthur Bastow by sight, and his 
name passed from mouth to mouth, but the usher 
called loudly for silence, and then the magistrates’ 
clerk rose. 

“William Smith and John Brown — at least these are 
the names given — are charged with stopping the South 
Coast coach last night, killing the guard, and robbing 
the passengers ; and Arthur Bastow is charged with 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


5 7 

aiding and abetting the other two prisoners, and with 
guilty knowledge of their crime.” 

It was noticed by those who could see the prisoners’ 
faces, that, in spite of Bastow’s air of indifference, there 
was an expression of anxiety on his face as the charge 
was read, and he undoubtedly felt relief as that against 
, himself was mentioned. The first witness was John 
Knapp, and the constable stepped into the witness 
box. 

“ What do you know of this business, Knapp ?” the 
chairman asked. “ Just tell it your own way.” 

“ I am constable of Crowswood, your honour, and 
yesterday Squire Thorndyke said to me ” 

“No, you must not tell it like that, Knapp; you 
must not repeat what another person said to you. You 
can say that from information received you did so and 
so.” 

“Yes, your honour. From information received I 
went to the Rev. Mr. Bastow’s house, at a quarter to 
nine last night. At nine o’clock Squire Thorndyke and 
the parson came in together. They sent the servant up 
to bed, and then the Squire sent me round to examine 
the fastenings of the doors. I found that one back 
door had been left unfastened, and locked and bolted 
it. The Squire told me to lie down until one o’clock, 
and he would watch, and Mr. Bastow went up to bed.” 

“ Do you know of your own knowledge why these 
precautions were taken ?” 

“ Only from what I was told, your honour. At one 
o’clock the Squire woke me, and he lay down in the 
parlour, telling me to call him if I heard any movement 


58 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

outside. About two o’clock I heard two horses come 
into the parson’s yard. I called Squire Thorn dyke, 
who went upstairs to an open window ; presently some- 
one came and tried the back door. I heard voices out- 
side, but could not hear what was said. The Squire 
came down and called me upstairs. I went up and 
took my place at one side of the window, and the 
Squire took his on the other. I had this cudgel in my 
hand and the Squire his riding whip. A ladder was put 
up against the window and then someone came up, 
lifted the sash up high, and got in. There was light 
enough for me to see it was young Mr. Bastow. Then 
the two other prisoners came up. When the third had 
got into the room Mr. Bastow said, ‘ Follow me, and 
then you won’t tumble over the furniture.’ ” 

“ How was it that they did not see you and Mr. 
Thorndyke?” the chairman asked. 

“ We were standing well back, your honour ; the 
moon was on the other side of the house. There was 
light enough for us to see them as they got in at the 
window, but where we were standing it was quite dark, 
especially to chaps who had just come in from the 
moonlight. As they moved, the Squire hit the last of 
them a clout on the head with his hunting crop, and 
down he went, as if shot. The man next to him turned, 
but I did not see what took place, for, as the Squire 
had ordered me, I made a rush at Mr. Bastow and got 
my arms round him pretty tight, so as to prevent him 
using his pistols if he had any. He struggled hard, but 
without saying a word, till I got my heel behind his and 
threw him on his back. I came down on the top of 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


59 


him, then I got the pistols out of his belt and threw 
them on the bed, slipped the handcuffs on to one wrist, 
lifted him up a bit, and then shoved him up against the 
bedpost, and got the handcuff on to his other wrist, so 
that he could not shift away, having the post in between 
his arms. 

“Then I went to see if the Squire wanted any help, 
but he didn’t. I first handcuffed the man whose head 
he had broken, and tied the legs of the other, and then 
kept guard over them till morning. When the consta- 
bles came up from town we searched the prisoners, and 
on two of them found the watches, money, and rings. 
We found nothing on Mr. Bastow but two pistols. I 
went with the head constable to Mr. Bastow’s room 
and searched it thoroughly, but found nothing whatever 
there.” 

The evidence created a great sensation in court. 
John Thorndyke had not carried out his first intention 
of asking the witness not to make any mention of the 
fact that Arthur Bastow was carrying pistols. The more 
he had thought over the matter, the more convinced 
was he that the heavier the sentence the better it would 
be for the rector, and when he had heard from the lat- 
ter that there was nothing left in his son’s room that 
could be brought against him, and that he could not be 
charged with the capital crime of being a receiver, he 
thought it best to let matters take their course. 

The head constable was the next witness. He de- 
posed to the finding of the articles produced upon the 
two elder prisoners and the unsuccessful search of the 
younger prisoner’s room. 


6o 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“You did not search the house further?” the chair- 
man enquired. 

“ No, sir ; I wanted to get the prisoners down here 
as fast as I could, seeing that two of them were seriously 
hurt” 

The chairman nodded. 

“You will, of course, make a careful search of the 
whole house, constable.” 

“Yes, sir; I left one of my men up there with instruc- 
tions to allow no one to go upstairs until I returned.” 

“Quite right.” 

John Thorndyke was the next witness, and his evi- 
dence cleared up what had hitherto been a mysteiy to 
the general body of the public, as to how he and the 
constable happened to be in the house on watch when 
the highwaymen arrived. The most important part of 
his evidence was the repetition of the words young Bas- 
tow had used as he mounted the ladder, as they showed 
that it was arranged between the prisoners that the 
stolen goods should be hidden in the house. The 
Squire was only asked one or two questions. 

“ I suppose, Mr. Thorndyke, that you had no idea 
whatever that the younger prisoner would be accompa- 
nied by anyone else when he returned home?” 

“ Not the slightest,” the Squire replied. “ I was there 
simply to prevent this unfortunate lad from entering the 
house, when perhaps he might have used violence to- 
wards his father. My intention was to seize him if he 
did so, and to give him the choice of enlisting, as I had 
urged him to do, or of being brought before this bench 
for breaking into his father’s house. I felt that anything 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


61 


was better than his continuing in the evil courses on 
which he seemed bent” 

‘‘Thank you, Mr. Thorndyke. I must compliment 
you in the name of my brother magistrates, and I may 
say of the public, for the manner in which you, at con- 
siderable risk to yourself, have effected the capture of 
the two elder prisoners.” 

After consulting with the others the head constable 
was recalled. 

“ Do you know anything about the character of the 
younger prisoner?” 

“Yes, sir. We have had our eye upon him for some 
time. He was brought before your honours a week ago, 
charged with being drunk and disorderly in this town, 
and was fined £$. He is constantly drinking with some 
of the worst characters in the place, and is strongly sus- 
pected of having been concerned in the fray between 
the poachers and Sir Charles Harris’s game-keepers. 
Two of the latter said that they recognised him amongst 
the poachers, but as they both declined to swear to him 
we did not arrest him.” 

John Knapp was then recalled, and testified to Bas- 
tow’s drinking habits, and that the landlord of the ale- 
house at Crowswood had been ordered by the Squire 
not to draw any liquor for him in the future on pain of 
having the renewal of his license refused. 

“Have you any more witnesses to call?” the chair- 
man asked the head constable. 

“ Not at present, your honour. We have sent up to 
town, and on the next occasion the coachman will be 
called to testify to the shooting of the guard, and we 


62 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


hope to have some of the passengers here to identify 
the articles stolen from them.” 

“ It will be necessary that the Rev. Mr. Bastow should 
be here. He need not be called to give evidence un- 
less we think it to be of importance, but he had better 
be in attendance. The prisoners are remanded until this 
day week.” 

An hour later the three prisoners, handcuffed, were 
driven under an escort of three armed constables to 
Croydon gaol. When again brought up in court the 
passengers on the coach identified the articles taken 
from them, the coachman gave evidence of the stopping 
of the coach and of the shooting of the guard. The 
head constable testified that he had searched the rec- 
tory from top to bottom and found nothing whatever of 
a suspicious nature. None of the passengers were able 
to testify to the two elder prisoners as the men who had 
robbed them, as these had been masked, but the height 
and dress corresponded to those of the prisoners, and 
the two Bow Street runners then came forward and gave 
evidence that the two elder prisoners were well known 
to them. They had long been suspected of being high- 
waymen, and had several times been arrested when riding 
towards London on occasions when a coach had been 
stopped the night before, but no stolen goods had ever 
been found upon them, and in no case had the passen- 
gers been able to swear to their identity. One was 
known among his associates as “Galloping Bill,” the 
other as the “ Downy One.” 

At the conclusion of the evidence the three prisoners 
were formally committed for trial, the magistrates having 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


63 


retired in consultation for some time upon the question 
of whether the charge of receiving stolen goods ought 
to be made against Arthur Bastow. 

Mr. Bastow had not been called as a witness. John 
Thorndyke had brought him down to Reigate in a closed 
carriage, and he had waited in the justices’ room while 
the examination went on ; but the magistrates agreed 
that the evidence given was amply sufficient for them to 
commit upon without giving him the pain of appearing. 
John Thorndyke had taken him to another room while 
the magistrates were consulting together, and when he 
heard the result drove him back again. 

“ I have fully made up my mind to resign my living, 
Thorndyke. I could not stand up and preach to the 
villagers of their duties when I myself have failed so 
signally in training my own son ; nor visit their houses 
and presume to lecture them on their shortcomings 
when my son is a convicted criminal.” 

“ I quite see that, old friend,” the Squire said. “And 
I had no doubt but that you would decide on this course. 
I will not try to persuade you to change your decision, 
for I feel that your power of usefulness is at an end as 
far as the village is concerned. May I ask what you 
propose to do ? I can hardly suppose that your savings 
have been large.” 

“Two years ago I had some hundreds laid by, but 
they have dwindled away to nothing ; you can under- 
stand how. For a time it was given freely, then reluc- 
tantly; then I declared I would give no more, but he 
took it all the same — he knew well enough that I could 
never prosecute him for forgery.” 


6 4 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“As bad as that, eh?” Thorndyke said, sternly. 
“Well, we won’t talk further of him now ; what I pro- 
pose is, that you should take up your abode at the 
Hall. I am not satisfied with the school where Mark 
has been for the last two years, and I have been hesi- 
tating whether to get a private tutor for him or to send 
him to one of the public schools, I know that that 
would be best, but I could not bring myself to do so. 
I have some troubles of my own that but two or three 
people know of, and now that everything is going on 
smoothly on the estate and in the village, I often feel 
dull, and the boy’s companionship does me much good ; 
and as he knows many lads of his own age in the neigh- 
bourhood now, I think that he would do just as well at 
home. 

“ He will be taking to shooting and hunting before 
long, and if he is to have a tutor, there is no one I 
should like to have better than yourself. You know all 
the people, and we could talk comfortably together of 
an evening when the house is quiet. Altogether it will 
be an excellent arrangement for me. You would have 
your own room, and if I had company you need not 
join them unless you liked. The house would not 
seem like itself without you, for you have been asso- 
ciated with it as long as I can remember. As to your 
going out into the world at the age of sixty, it would be 
little short of madness. There — you need not give me 
an answer now,” he went on, seeing that the rector was 
too broken down to speak, “ but I am sure that when you 
think it over you will come to the same conclusion that I 
do, — that it will be the best possible plan for us both.” 


\* 



CHAPTER IV. 

T HE trial of the two highwaymen and Arthur Bas- 
tow came off in due course. The evidence given 
was similar to that at Reigate, the only addition 
being that Mr. Bastow was himself put into the box. 
The counsel for the prosecution said, — 

“ I am sorry to have to call you, Mr. Bastow ; we 
all feel most deeply for you, and I will ask you only 
two or three questions. Was your son frequently out 
at night?” 

“ He was.” 

“ Did you often hear him return ?” 

“ Yes ; I seldom went to sleep until he came back.” 

“ Had you any reason to suppose that others re- 
turned with him?” 

“ I never saw any others.” 

“But you might have heard them without seeing 
them. Please tell us if you ever heard voices ?’ ’ 

“Yes, I have heard men’s voices,” the clergyman 
said, reluctantly, in a low voice. 

5 




65 


66 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ One more question, and I have done. Have you 
on some occasions heard the sound of horses’ hoofs in 
your yard at about the time that your son came in ?” 

“I have,” said Mr. Bastow, in a low voice. 

“ Had you any suspicion whatever of the character 
of your son’s visitors ?” 

“ None whatever. I supposed that those with him 
were companions with whom he had been spending the 
evening.” 

Mr. Bastow had to be assisted from the witness-box, 
so overcome was he with the ordeal. He had not 
glanced at his son while giving his evidence ; the latter 
and his two fellow-prisoners maintained throughout the 
trial their expression of indifference. The two high- 
waymen nodded to acquaintances they saw in the body 
of the court, smiled at various points in the evidence, 
and so conducted themselves that there were murmured 
exclamations of approval of their gameness on the part 
of the lower class of the public. The jury, without a 
moment’s hesitation, found them all guilty of the offences 
with which they were charged. Bastow was first sen- 
tenced. 

“Young man,” the judge said, “young as you are, 
there can be no doubt whatever in the minds of anyone 
who has heard the evidence that you have been an asso- 
ciate with these men who have been found guilty of 
highway robbery accompanied by murder. I consider 
that a merciful view was taken of your case by the 
magistrates who committed you for trial, for the evi- 
dence of your heart-broken father, on whose grey hairs 
your conduct has brought trouble and disgrace, leaves 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


67 


no doubt that you have for some time been in league 
with highwaymen, although not actually participating 
in their crime. The words overheard by Mr. Thorn- 
dyke show that you were prepared to hide their booty 
for them, and it is well for you that you were captured 
before this was done, and that no proceeds of other rob- 
beries were found in the house. The evidence of the Bow 
Street officers show that it had for some time been sus- 
pected that these men had an accomplice somewhere in 
the neighbourhood of Reigate, for although arrested sev- 
eral times under circumstances forming a strong assump- 
tion of their guilt, nothing was ever found upon them. 
There can now be little doubt who their accomplice was. 
Had you been an older man I should have sentenced 
you to transportation for life, but in consideration of 
your youth, I shall take the milder course of sentencing 
you to fifteen years’ transportation.” 

The capital sentence was then passed in much fewer 
words upon the two highwaymen. As they were leaving 
the dock, Bastow turned, and, in a clear voice, said to 
John Thorndyke, who had been accommodated with a 
seat in the well of the court, — 

“I have to thank you, Thorndyke, for this. I will 
pay off my debt some day, you may take your oath.” 

Mr. Bastow, as soon as he had given his evidence, 
had taken a hackney coach to the inn where he and the 
Squire had put up on their arrival in town the evening 
before, and here, on his return, John Thorndyke found 
him. He was lying on his bed in a state of prostration. 

“Cheer up, Bastow,” he said, putting his hand upon 
the rector’s shoulder, “the sentence is fifteen years, 


68 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


which was the very amount I hoped that he would get. 
The more one sees of him the more hopeless it is to 
expect that any change will ever take place in him, and 
it is infinitely better that he should be across the sea, 
where his conduct, when his term is over, can affect no 
one ; the disgrace, such as it is, to his friends, is no 
greater in a long term than in a short one. Had he 
got off with four or five years’ imprisonment, he would 
have been a perpetual trouble and a source of uneasi- 
ness, not to say alarm ; and even had he left you alone, 
we should always have been in a state of dread as to 
his next offence ; better that he should be out in the 
colonies than be hanged at Tyburn.” 

“ How did he take the sentence ?” 

“ With the same bravado he had shown all through, 
and as he went out of the dock he addressed a threat 
to me that, under the circumstances, I can very well 
afford to despise. Now, if you will take my advice, 
you will drink a couple of glasses of good port and 
then go to bed. I will see to your being awakened at 
seven o’clock, which will give us time to breakfast com- 
fortably and to make a start at nine.” 

The rector ate a biscuit, mechanically sipped another 
glass of wine, and was even able to eat a kidney when 
they were brought up. Although September was not 
yet out, the Squire had a fire lighted in the room, and 
after the meal was over, and two steaming tumblers of 
punch were placed upon the table, he took a long pipe 
from the mantel, filled and lighted it, then filled another, 
and handed it to the rector, at the same time holding 
out a light to him. 


THE BRAHMINS' TREASURE 69 

“ Life has its consolations,” he said. “ You have had 
a lot of trouble one way and another, Bastow, but we 
may hope that they are all over now, and that life will 
go more smoothly and easily with you ; we had better 
leave the past alone for the present. I call this snug: 
a good fire, a clean pipe, a comfortable chair, and a 
steaming bowl at one’s elbow.” 

The rector smiled faintly. 

“It seems unnatural,” he began. 

“Not at all, not at all,” the Squire broke in; “you 
have had a tremendous load on your mind, and now it 
is lifted off; the thunder cloud has burst, and, though 
damage has been done, one is thankful that it is no 
worse. Now I can talk to you of a matter that has 
been on my mind for the last three weeks. What steps 
do you think that I ought to take for finding a succes- 
sor for you ? It is most important to have a man who 
will be a real help in the parish, as you have been, 
would pull with one comfortably, and be a pleasant 
associate. I don’t want too young a fellow, and I don’t 
want too old a one. I have no more idea how to set 
about it than a child. Of course, I could ask the bishop 
to appoint, but I don’t know that he would appoint at 
all the sort of man I want. The living is only worth 
£200 a year and the house, no very great catch, but 
there is many a man that would be glad to have 
it.” 

“ I have been thinking it over, too, Thorndyke, when 
I could bring my mind to consider anything but my 
own affairs. How would Greg do? He has been 
taking duty for me since I could not do it myself. I 


70 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


know that he is a hard-working fellow, and he has a 
wife and a couple of children ; his curacy is only £yo 
a year, and it would be a perfect Godsend, for he has no 
influence in the church, and he might be years without 
preferment.” 

“I should think he would do very well, Bastow. 
Yes, he reads well, which I own I care for a good deal 
more than the preaching ; not that I have anything to 
say against that ; he gives sound and practical sermons, 
and they have the advantage of being short, which is a 
great thing. In the first place, it is good in itself, and 
in the second, specially important in a village congrega- 
tion, where you know very well every woman present is 
fidgeting to get home to see that the pot is not boiling 
over, or the meat in the oven is not burnt. 

“Yes, I will go down to-morrow afternoon and ask 
him if he would like the living. You were talking of 
selling the furniture ; how much do you suppose it is 
worth ?’’ 

“ I don’t suppose it will fetch above £yo or ,£80 ; it is 
solid and good, but as I have had it in use nearly forty 
years, it would not go for much.” 

“Well, let us say ;£ioo,” the Squire said. “I will 
give you a cheque for it. I daresay Greg will find it 
difficult to furnish, and he might have to borrow the 
money, and the debt would be a millstone round his 
neck, perhaps, for years, so I will hand it over with the 
rectory to him.” 

So they talked for an hour or two on village matters, 
and the Squire was well pleased, when his old friend 
went up to bed, that he had succeeded in diverting his 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


7i 

thoughts for a time from the painful subject that had 
engrossed them for weeks. 

“You have slept well,” he said, when they met at 
breakfast ; “I can see by your face.” 

“Yes; I have not slept so soundly for months. I 
went to sleep as soon as my head touched the pillow, 
and did not wake until the chamber-maid knocked at 
my door.” 

“ That second glass of punch did it, Bastow. It is a 
fine morning ; we shall have a brisk drive back. I am 
very glad that I changed my mind and brought the gig 
instead of the close carriage.” 

In the afternoon the Squire drove into Reigate. He 
found the curate at home, and astonished and delighted 
him by asking him if he would like the living of Crows- 
wood. It came altogether as a surprise to him, for the 
rector’s intentions to resign had not been made public, 
and it was supposed in the village that he was only stay- 
ing at the Squire’s until this sad affair should be over. 
Greg was a man of seven- or eight-and- twenty, had grad- 
uated with distinction at Cambridge, but having no in- 
fluence, had no prospects of promotion, and the offer 
almost bewildered him. 

“I should be grateful, indeed, Mr. Thorndyke,” he 
said. “ It would be a boon to us. Will you excuse 
me for a moment ?” And opening a door, he called for 
his wife, who was trying to keep the two children quiet 
there, having retired with them hastily when Mr. Thorn- 
dyke was announced. “What do you think, Emma?” 
her husband said, excitedly, as she came into the room. 
“ Mr. Thorndyke has been good enough to offer me the 


72 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


living of Crowswood.” Then he recovered himself. 
“ I beg your pardon, sir, for my unmannerliness in not 
first introducing my wife to you.” 

“ It was natural that you should think of telling her 
the news first of all,” the Squire said, courteously. 
“ Madam, I am your obedient servant, and I hope that 
soon we shall get to know each other well. I consider 
it of great importance that the squire of a parish and 
the rector should work well together, and see a great 
deal of each other. I don’t know whether you are 
aware, Mr. Greg, that the living is worth £200 a year, 
besides which there is a paddock of about ten acres, 
which is sufficient for the keep of a horse and cow. The 
rectory is a comfortable one, and I have arranged with 
Mr. Bastow that he shall leave his furniture for the ben- 
efit of his successor. It will include linen, so that you 
will be put to no expense whatever in moving in. I 
have known these first expenses to seriously cripple the 
usefulness of a clergyman when appointed to a living.” 

“That is kind of you, indeed, Mr. Thorndyke,” the 
curate said. “We have been living in these lodgings 
since we first came here, and it will, indeed, make mat- 
ters easy to have the question of furniture so kindly set- 
tled for us.” 

“Will your rector be able to release you shortly?” 

“ I have no doubt that he will do that at once. His 
son has just left Oxford and taken deacon’s orders, and 
the rector told me that he should be glad if I would 
look out for another curacy, as he wanted his son here 
with him. He spoke very kindly, and said that he 
should make no change until I could hear of a place to 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


7 3 


suit me. His son has been assisting him for the last 
month, since I took the services at Crowswood, and I 
am sure he would release me at once.” 

“ Then I should be glad if you will move up as soon 
as possible to the rectory. I know nothing about the 
necessary forms, but I suppose that Mr. Bastow will 
send in his resignation to the bishop, and I shall write 
and tell him that I have appointed you, and you can 
continue to act as you have done until you can be for- 
mally inducted as the rector. Perhaps you would not 
mind going round to your rector at once and telling 
him of the offer you have had. I have one or two 
matters to do in the town, and will call again in three- 
quarters of an hour. I shall be glad to tell Mr. Bas- 
tow that you will come into residence at once.” 

Never were a pair more delighted than Parson Greg 
and his wife when two days later they took possession 
of their new home, half a dozen women having been at 
work the day before, and everything being in perfect 
order. To Mrs. Greg’s relief she found that the old 
servant had already gone, the Squire having himself in- 
formed her that Mrs. Greg would bring her own maid 
with her. Mr. Bastow said that he would allow her 
half a crown a week as long as she lived, and the Squire 
added as much more, and as the woman had saved a 
good deal during her twenty years’ service with the 
rector, she was perfectly satisfied. 

The news of the change at the rectory naturally occa- 
sioned a great deal of talk. At first there was a general 
feeling of regret that Mr. Bastow had gone, and yet it 
was felt that he could not have been expected to stay ; 


74 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


the month’s experience that they had had of the new 
parson had cleared the way for him. He and his wife 
soon made themselves familiar with the villagers, and, 
being bright young people, speedily made themselves 
liked. The Squire and Mrs. Cunningham called the 
first afternoon after their arrival. 

“You must always send up if anything is wanted, 
Mr. Greg ; whenever there is any illness in the village, 
we always keep a stock of soups and jellies, and Mrs. 
Cunningham is almoner in general. Is there anything 
that we can do for you ? If so, let me know without 
hesitation.” 

“ Indeed, there is nothing, Mr. Thorndyke. It is 
marvellous to us coming in here and finding everything 
that we can possibly want.” 

Mr. and Mrs. Greg dined regularly at the Squire’s 
once a week. 

“ Have you had that Indian servant of yours long, 
Mr. Thorndyke ?” Mrs. Greg asked one day. “ He is 
a strange-looking creature. Of course, in the daytime, 
when one sees him about in ordinary clothes, one does 
not notice him so much, but of an evening in that 
Eastern costume of his he looks very strange.” 

“ He was the servant of the colonel, my brother,” 
the Squire replied. “ He brought him over from India 
with him. The man had been some years in his service 
and was very attached to him, and had saved his life 
more than once, he told me. On one occasion he 
caught a cobra by the neck as it was about to strike 
my brother’s hand as he sat at table ; he carried it out 
into the compound, as George called it, but which means, 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


75 


he told me, garden, and there let it escape. Another 
time he caught a thug, which means a sort of robber 
who kills his victims by strangling before robbing them. 
They are a sort of sect who regard strangling as a 
religious action, greatly favoured by the bloodthirsty 
goddess they worship. He was in the act of fastening 
the twisted handkerchief, used for the purpose, round 
my brother’s neck, when Ramoo cut him down. The 
closest shave, though, was when George, coming down 
the country, was pounced upon by a tiger and carried 
off. Ramoo seized a couple of muskets from the men 
and rushed into the jungle after him, and coming up 
with the brute killed him at the first shot. George 
escaped with a broken arm and his back laid open by 
a scratch of the tiger’s claws as it first seized him. 

“So at George’s death I took Ramoo on, and have 
found him a most useful fellow. Of course, it was 
some little time before I became accustomed to his 
noiseless way of going about, and it used to make me 
jump when I happened to look round and saw him 
standing quietly behind me, when I thought I was quite 
alone. However, as soon as I became accustomed to 
him, I got over all that, and now I would not lose him 
for anything ; he seems to know instinctively what I 
want. He is excellent as a waiter and valet ; I should 
feel almost lost without him now, and the clumping 
about of an English man-servant would annoy me as 
much as his noiseless way of going about did at first. 
He has come to speak English very fairly. Of course, 
my brother always talked to him in his own tongue ; 
still he had picked up enough English for me to get on 


;6 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


with ; now he speaks it quite fluently. When I have 
nothing whatever for him to do, he devotes himself to 
my little ward. She is very fond of him, and it is 
quite pretty to see them together in the garden. Alto- 
gether I would not part with him for anything.” 

* * * * * * * * 
John Thorndyke had occasionally made enquiries of 
Mr. Bastow as to the whereabouts of his son. At the 
time the sentence was passed transportation to the 
American colonies was being discontinued, and until 
other arrangements could be made hulks were estab- 
lished as places of confinement and punishment ; but a 
few months later he was one of the first batch of con- 
victs sent out to the penal settlement formed on the 
east coast of Australia. This was intended to be fixed 
at Botany Bay, but it having been found that this bay 
was open and unsheltered, it was established at Sydney, 
although for many years the settlement retained in Eng- 
land the name of the original site. As the condition of 
the prisoners kept in the hulks was deplorable, the 
Squire had, through the influence of Sir Charles Harris, 
obtained the inclusion of Arthur Bastow’ s name among 
the first batch of those who were to sail for Australia. 

Mr. Bastow obtained permission to see his son before 
sailing, but returned home much depressed, for he had 
been assailed with such revolting and blasphemous lan- 
guage by his son, that he had been forced to retire in 
horror at the end of a few minutes. 



CHAPTER V. 

S IX years after Arthur Bastow had sailed the Squire 
learned that there had been a revolt of the con- 
victs ; several had been killed and the mutiny 
suppressed, but about a dozen had succeeded in getting 
away. These had committed several robberies and some 
murders among the settlers, and a military force from 
the prison were scouring the country for them. 

“ Of course, Mr. Thorndyke,” the official said, “ the 
Governor in his report does not give us the names of 
any of those concerned in the matter ; he simply says 
that the mutiny took place in the quarters occupied by 
the worse class of prisoners. By worse class, he means 
the most troublesome and refractory out there. The 
prisoners are not classified according to their original 
crimes. A poacher who has killed a game-keeper, or a 
smuggler who has killed a revenue officer, may in other 
respects be a quiet and well-conducted man, while men 
sentenced for comparatively minor offences may give an 
immense deal of trouble. I will, however, get a letter 

77 


78 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


written to the Governor asking him if Arthur Bastow 
was among those who took part in the revolt, and if so, 
what has become of him.” 

It was more than a year before the reply came, and 
then the Governor reported that Arthur Bastow, who 
was believed to have been the leading spirit of the 
mutiny, was among those who had escaped, and had not 
yet been recaptured. It was generally believed that he 
had been killed by the blacks, but of this there was no 
actual proof. Mr. Bastow was much disturbed when he 
heard the news. 

A month later the Reigate coach was stopped, when 
a short distance out of the town, by two highwaymen, 
and a considerable prize obtained by the robbers. Soon 
afterwards came news of private carriages being stopped 
on various commons in the south of London, and of 
several burglaries taking place among the houses round 
Clapham, Wandsworth, and Putney. Such events were 
by no means uncommon, but following each other in 
such quick succession they created a strong feeling of 
alarm among the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. 
John Thorndyke, going up to town shortly afterwards, 
went to the head-quarters of the Bow Street runners, and 
had a talk with their chief in reference especially to the 
stoppage of the Reigate coach. Mr. Chetwynd had 
lately died, and John Thorndyke had been unanimously 
elected by his fellow magistrates as chairman of the 
bench. 

"No, Mr. Thorndyke, we have no clue whatever. 
Our men have been keeping the sharpest watch over 
the fellows suspected of having a hand in such matters, 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


79 


but they all seem pretty quiet at present, and none of 
them seem to be particularly flush with money. It is 
the same with these burglaries in the south of London. 
We are at our wits’ end about them. We are flooded 
with letters of complaint from residents, but though the 
patrols on the commons have been doubled, and every 
effort made, we are as far off as ever. As far as the 
burglaries are concerned, we have every reason to think 
that it is the work of two or three new hands. The jobs 
are not neatly done, and certainly not with tools usually 
used by burglars. They seem to rely upon daring rather 
than skill. Anyhow, we don’t know where to look for 
them, and are altogether at sea.” 

A month later John Thorndyke had occasion to go 
up again to town. This time Mark accompanied him. 
Both carried pistols, as did the groom sitting beside 
them. The Squire himself was but a poor shot, but 
Mark had practised a great deal. 

Two days after they had reached town the Squire re- 
ceived a letter from Mrs. Cunningham. 

“Dear Mr. Thorndyke, — Knapp has been up this 
morning to tell me that a stranger dismounted yester- 
day at the ale-house, and while his horse was being fed, 
he asked a few questions. Among others, he wished to 
be told if you were at home, saying that he had known 
you some fifteen years ago, when you lived near Hast- 
ings, and should like to have a talk with you again. In 
fact, he had turned off from the main road for the pur- 
pose. He seemed disappointed when he heard that you 
had gone up to town, and hearing that you might not 


8o 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


be back for three or four days, said he should be coming 
back through Reigate in a week or ten days, and he 
dared say he should be able to find time to call again. 
Knapp did not hear about it until this morning ; he 
asked the landlord about the man, and the landlord said 
he was about thirty, dark, and sparely built. He did not 
notice his horse particularly, seeing that it was such as a 
small squire or farmer might ride. He carried a brace 
of pistols in his holsters. The landlord was not prepos- 
sessed with his appearance, and it was that that made 
him speak to Knapp about him. I have told the men 
to unfasten the dogs every night, and I have asked 
Knapp to send up two trustworthy men to keep watch.” 

“It may mean something and it may not,” the Squire 
said, as he handed the letter to Mark ; “ it is a suspicious- 
looking circumstance ; if the fellow had been honest he 
would surely have said something about himself. There 
is no doubt these house-breakers generally find out what 
chance there is of resistance, and, hearing that we were 
both away, might have decided on making an attempt. 
I have pretty well finished our business, and ordered 
nearly all the provisions that Mrs. Cunningham requires. 
I have to call at my lawyer’s, and that is generally a 
longish business. 

“ It is half-past two o’clock ; if we start from here at 
five we shall be down soon after eight, which will be 
quite soon enough. We shall have a couple of hours’ 
drive in the dark, but that won’t matter, we have got the 
lamps.” 

“I am quite ready to start, father. I am engaged to 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


81 


sup with Reginald Ascot, but I will go over this after- 
noon and make my excuses.” 

At five o’clock they started. 

“You have got your pistols in order, Mark?” the 
Squire asked, as they drove over London Bridge. 

“I have them handy, father, one in each pocket.” 

“James, are your pistols charged?” 

“Yes, sir.” 

At six o’clock it was beginning to get dusk, and they 
stopped while the groom got down and lit the lamps ; 
then they resumed their journey. They were within five 
miles of Reigate when suddenly two horsemen rode out 
from a side road with a shout of “Stand and deliver !” 

The Squire lashed the horses, and a moment later a 
pistol was fired, and the ball went through John Thorn- 
dyke’s hat. By the light of the lamps Mark saw the 
other man raise his hand and he fired at once ; then, as 
there was no reply to his fire, he discharged the second 
barrel at the first who had shot, and who had at once 
drawn another pistol. The two reports rang out almost 
at the same moment, but Mark’s was a little the first. 
There was a sharp exclamation of pain from the high- 
wayman, who wrenched round his horse and galloped 
down the lane from which he had issued, the groom 
sending two bullets after him. 

“Where is the other man?” Mark exclaimed, as his 
father reined in the horses. 

“ Somewhere on the ground there, Mark ; I saw him 
fall from his saddle as we passed him.” 

“ Is it any use pursuing the other, father ? I am 
pretty sure I hit him.” 


6 


8 2 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ I am quite sure you did, but it is no good our fol- 
lowing ; the side roads are so cut up by ruts that we 
should break a spring before we had gone a hundred 
yards. No, we will stop and look at this fellow who is 
unhorsed, Mark.” 

The groom got down and, taking one of the carriage 
lamps proceeded to a spot where the highwayman’s 
horse was standing. The man was already dead, the 
bullet having hit him a few inches above the heart. 

“ He is dead, father.” 

“ I think you had better lift him up on the foot-board 
behind ; James can ride his horse. We will hand the 
body over to the constable at Reigate. He may know 
who he is, or find something upon him that may afford 
a clue that will lead to the capture of his companion.” 

“No, I don’t know him, Squire,” the constable said, 
as they stopped before his house and told him what had 
happened. “ However, he certainly is dead, and I will 
get one of the men to help me carry him into the shed 
behind the court-house. So you say that you think 
that the other is wounded.” 

“ I am pretty sure he is. I heard him give an 
exclamation as my son shot.” 

“That is good shooting, Mr. Mark,” the constable 
said. “ If every passenger could use his arms as you do 
there would soon be an end to stopping coaches. I will 
see what he has got about him, and will come up and let 
you know, Squire, the first thing in the morning.” 

“I will send Knapp down,” John Thorndyke said, as 
they drove homeward. “ I am rather curious to know 
if this fellow is the same as Mrs. Cunningham wrote 



“He is dead, father.” 







































♦ 


V 






' I 






























> 











s 


f 






t 







t 















* 


t 





















% 




































THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 83 

to me about. I will tell him to take Peters along with 
him.” 

“ I hardly see that there can be any connection 
between the two. Highwaymen don’t go in for house- 
breaking. I think they consider that to be a lower 
branch of the profession.” 

“ Generally they do, no doubt, Mark ; but you know 
I told you that the chief at Bow Street said that he had 
a suspicion that the highway robbers and the house- 
breakers who have been creating so much alarm, are 
the same men.” 

“ It is curious that they should have happened to 
light on us, father, if they were intending to break into 
our house.” 

John Thorndyke made no reply, and in a few minutes 
drove up to the house. Their return, a couple of days 
before they were expected, caused great satisfaction to 
Mrs. Cunningham and Millicent. The former, however, 
had wisely kept from the girl the matter on which she 
had written to the Squire and the suspicion she had 
herself entertained. 

“ I wish you had shot the other man as well as the 
one you did, Mark,” the Squire said, as he walked with 
his son down to Reigate to attend the inquest the next 
morning on the man he had brought in. 

Mark looked at his father in surprise. 

“There is no doubt I hit him, father,” he said ; “but 
I should not think that he will be likely to trouble us 
again.” 

“ I wish I felt quite sure of that. Do you know that 
I have a strong suspicion that it was Arthur Bastow?” 


8 4 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


Mark had, of course, heard of Bastow’s escape, but 
had attached no great importance to it. The crime had 
taken place nearly eight years before, and although 
greatly impressed at the time by the ill-doings of the 
man, the idea that he would ever return and endeavour to 
avenge himself on his father for the part he had taken 
had not occurred to him. Beyond mentioning his es- 
cape, the Squire had never talked to him on the subject. 

“ It was he who bade us stand and deliver, and the 
moment he spoke, the voice seemed familiar to me, 
and, thinking it over, I have an impression that it was 
his. I may be mistaken, but I have had him in my 
mind ever since I heard that he had escaped. I may, 
therefore, have connected the voice with him erroneously, 
and yet I cannot but think that I was right. You see, 
there are two or three suspicious circumstances. In 
the first place, there was this man down here making 
enquiries. Knapp went down early this morning with 
the inn-keeper, and told me before breakfast that Peters 
at once recognised the fellow you shot as the fellow who 
had made the enquiries. Now, the natural result of 
making enquiries would have been that the two men 
would the next evening have broken into the house, 
thinking that during our absence they would meet with 
no resistance. Instead of doing this they waylaid us 
on the road, which looks as if it was I they intended 
to attack, and not the house.” 

“ It is a very unpleasant idea, father.” 

“ Very unpleasant, and it seems to me that we should, 
at any rate, spare no pains in hunting down the man 
you wounded.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


85 


“ I will undertake that if you like. I have nothing 
particular to do, and it would be an excitement. You 
have a lot to keep you here.” 

“ I don’t fancy that you will find it an excitement, 
Mark, for of course the detectives will do the hunting, 
but I should certainly be glad if you would take a letter 
for me to the head of the detective department, and 
tell him what I think, and my reasons for thinking so, 
and say that I offer a reward of £100 for the capture of 
the man who tried to stop us, and who was, we are cer- 
tain, wounded by you. Unless he has some marvellously 
out-of-the-way hiding-place, it ought not to be difficult. 
A wounded man could scarcely lie hidden in the slums 
of London without its being known to a good many 
people, to some of whom a reward of the sum of ^ioo 
pounds would be an irresistible temptation.” 

By this time they had reached Reigate. The inquest 
did not last many minutes, and the jury without hesita- 
tion returned a verdict of justifiable homicide. 



CHAPTER VI. 

T HREE months later John Thorndyke received a 
letter from the detective office asking him to call 
the next time he came up to town, as, although 
no news had been obtained that would lead to the 
man’s immediate arrest, news had, at any rate, been ob- 
tained showing that he was alive. It happened that 
Mark was intending to go up on the following day, 
and his father asked him to call for him at . Bow Street. 

“Well, Mr. Thorndyke, we have heard about your 
man, and that after we had quite abandoned the search. 
I had come to the conclusion that the wound you gave 
him had been a fatal one, and that he had been quietly 
buried by some of the people with whom he was con- 
nected. The discovery was, as half these discoveries 
are generally, the result of accident Last week a gen- 
tleman entered the bank and asked for change in gold 
for a £$o note. The cashier, looking at the number, 
found that it was one of those that had been stolen from 
a passenger by one of the south coaches several months 
86 



THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


87 


ago. The gentleman was at once taken into a private 
office and questioned as to how he had obtained the 
note. The account that he gave was that he was a 
surgeon in practice at Southampton. A gentleman had 
arrived on a date which we found to be the day after 
that on which you were stopped ; he was well dressed, 
and had the air of a gentleman ; had come down by 
coach, and was evidently very ill. He told the surgeon 
that he had been engaged in a duel, that the pistols had 
been discharged simultaneously, and that he had killed 
his man, but had himself been severely wounded. He 
said that the person whom he had killed had influential 
connections, and that it would be necessary for him to 
remain in seclusion for a time, and he asked him to take 
charge of his case, as he had ample means of paying 
him handsomely. The surgeon examined the wound, 
and found it to be, indeed, a serious one, and, as he 
thought, probably fatal. However, having no doubt as 
to the truth of the story, he had taken the gentleman in, 
and he remained under his charge until a week before 
he came up to town. 

“ For the first month he had been dangerously ill, but 
he completely recovered. The surgeon had no reason 
whatever for doubting his patient being a gentleman ; 
he was fashionably dressed, and had evidently changed 
his clothes after the duel, as there were no blood-stains 
upon them. He was, however, glad when he left, as his 
conversation did not please him from its cynical tone. 
The bank at once sent to us as soon as the man pre- 
sented the note, which, he stated, had been given to him 
in part payment for his medical services and the board 




88 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


and lodging of the patient. The total amount had been 
£75, and the balance was paid in gold. As he was able 
to give several good references and was identified by 
three gentlemen, he was of course released. I have no 
doubt whatever that the fellow was your man. The 
surgeon said, whoever he was, he must have been a man 
of iron resolution to have made such a journey in the 
state he was. 

“ No doubt he must have ridden straight to the place 
he used as his head-quarters, where he had his wound 
roughly bandaged, changed his clothes, and had then 
ridden the next morning to some point that the coach 
passed on its way to Southampton. Of course, we ob- 
tained from the surgeon a minute description of the 
man’s appearance. We found that the people at the 
coach office had no remembrance of there being anyone 
answering to that description among the persons who 
travelled by the coach, but of course that would not go 
for much, for over three months have elapsed. 

“When the coachman who had driven the down 
coach that day came up to town, we saw him, and he 
remembered perfectly that on or about that day he had 
picked up a passenger at Kingston, — a gentleman who 
was in very weak health. There were only three inside 
passengers besides himself, and he had to be assisted 
into the coach. The way-bill, on being turned up, 
showed that an inside passenger had been taken up at 
Kingston. I have already sent down men to make en- 
quiries at every village in the district between Reigate 
and Kingston, and I trust that we shall lay hands on 
him, especially now we have got an accurate description 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 89 

of him, while before we were working in the dark in 
that respect.” 

“What is the description, sir? My father is much 
interested on that point, for, as I believe I told you, 
he has a strong suspicion that the fellow is the man 
who was transported more than eight years ago to 
Australia, and who made his escape from the prison 
there.” 

“Yes, I know. At first it appeared to me very im- 
probable, but I am bound to say the description tallies 
very clearly with that given of him. The surgeon took 
him to be nearly thirty ; but after what he has gone 
through, he may well look three or four years older 
than he is. He had light hair, rather small grey eyes, 
and a face that would have been good-looking had it 
not been for its supercilious sneering expression.” 

“I can remember him,” Mark said; “and that an- 
swers very closely to him. I should say that it is cer- 
tainly Bastow, and my father made no mistake when he 
asserted that he recognised his voice.” 

The officer added a note to the description in his 
register : “Strongly suspected of being Arthur Bastow, 
transported for connivance with highwaymen ; was leader 
of a mutiny in convict gaol of Sydney two years and a 
half ago. Made his escape.” 

“Altogether a desperate character. No doubt he is 
the man who has been concerned in most of these rob- 
beries in the southern suburbs. We must get hold of 
him if we can, and once we do so there will be an end 
of his travels, for a mutiny in prison and escape is a 
hanging business, putting aside the affairs since he got 


90 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


back. Well, sir, I hope he will give you and your 
father no more trouble.” 

“I am sure I hope so,” Mark said. “I suppose that 
the fellow who was shot was one of the men who 
escaped with him from the convict prison.” 

“That is likely enough. Two would get home as 
easily as one, and the fact that they were both strangers 
here would account for the difficulty our men have had 
in their search for him. You see, we have had nothing 
whatever to go on. You must not be too sanguine 
about our catching the man in a short time : he is evi- 
dently a clever fellow, and I think it likely that once he 
got back, he lost no time in getting away from this part 
of the country, and we are more likely to find him in 
the west or north than we are of laying hands on him 
here. We will send descriptions all over the country, 
and as soon as I hear of a series of crimes anywhere, I 
will send off two of my best men to help the local con- 
stables.” 

“ I thought that I could not have been mistaken, 
Mark ; we have got that rascal on our hands again. I 
hope now that they have got a description of him to go 
by, they will not be long before they catch him, but 
the way he escaped after being badly wounded shows 
that he is full of resources, and he may give them some 
trouble yet if I am not mistaken. At any rate, I will 
have a talk with the Reigate constable, and tell him that 
there is very little doubt that the man who attacked us 
was Arthur Bastow, who has, as we have heard, escaped 
from Botany Bay, and that he had best tell his men to 
keep a sharp lookout for him, for that, owing to his 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


9i 


animosity against us for his former capture and convic- 
tion, it is likely enough that sooner or later he will be in 
this neighbourhood again. After his determined attempt 
at my life when pretending to rob us, I shall certainly 
not feel comfortable until I know that he is under lock 
and key. You were in court when he threatened me 
after he was sentenced, and I believe thoroughly that the 
fellow would run any risk to revenge himself on me.” 

Four days later the party was seated round the fire 
in the dusk. Mr. Bastow was sitting next to the Squire, 
and was in unusually good spirits. He had heard no 
word of what the Squire had discovered, nor dreamt 
that his son was again in England, still less that one of 
the men who had endeavoured to stop the Squire and 
his son on their drive from London was suspected to be 
his son Arthur. Suddenly there was the crack of a 
pistol outside and a ball passed between him and the 
Squire. Without a word, Mark Thorndyke rushed to 
the door, seized a pistol from his riding-coat, and, snatch- 
ing up a heavy whip, dashed out into the garden. 

He was just in time to see a figure running at full 
speed, and he set off in pursuit. Good runner as he 
was, he gained but slightly at first, but after a time he 
drew nearer to the fugitive. The latter was but some 
sixty yards away when he leapi a hedge into a narrow 
lane. Mark followed without hesitation, but as he leapt 
into the road, he heard a jeering laugh and the sharp 
sound of a horse’s hoofs, and knew that the man he was 
pursuing had gained his horse and made off. Dis- 
gusted at his failure, he went slowly back to the house. 
The shutters had been put up. 


92 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ I have lost him, father. He ran well to begin with, 
but I was gaining fast on him when he leapt into a nar- 
row lane where he had left his horse, and rode off before 
I could get up to him. I need hardly say that there 
was no use attempting to follow on foot. He missed 
you all, did he not?” 

“Yes, Mark. It is not so easy to take an accurate 
aim when it is nearly dark. The bullet passed between 
myself and Mr. Bastow, and has buried itself in the 
mantel-piece.” 

“Do you think that he really meant to kill you, 
father?” 

“ I should imagine he did ; a man would hardly run 
the risk of being hunted merely for the pleasure of 
shooting.” 

“ I would give a good deal if I had caught him, 
or, better still, if I had shot him,” said Mark. “How- 
ever, I will make it my business to hunt the fellow 
down. After this evening’s affair, we shall never feel 
comfortable until he is caught. I have no doubt that 
he is the fellow we have been hunting for the last four 
months ; the people at Bow Street seem no good what- 
ever ; I will try if I cannot succeed better.” 

When the ladies went up to bed, the Squire said, — 

“ Come into the library, Mark, and we will smoke a 
pipe and have a talk over this business.” He touched 
the bell. “ Have you got a good fire in the library, 
Ramoo?” 

“Yes, sahib, very good.” 

“Then take a bottle of number one bin of port there 
and a couple of glasses.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


93 


When they were quietly seated, glasses filled, and the 
long pipes alight, the Squire said, “ I want to have a 
serious talk with you, Mark. What I am going to say 
will surprise you a good deal. I had not intended to tell 
you for another four years, that is to say, not until Milli- 
cent came of age ; but after that affair to-night, I feel 
that my life is so uncertain that I ought not to delay 
letting you know the truth. I suppose you agree with 
me that it was Bastow who shot at me this evening?” 

“ I have not the least doubt about that, father.” 

“ I will not say that he shot at me,” the Squire said, 
“ for he may have shot at his father ; the villain is quite 
capable of that. It was his father who brought me 
upon him, and, though I effected his capture eight years 
ago, I don’t suppose he cared which of us he killed. 
However, the point is not at which of us he aimed, but 
whether it was he, and that I take there is no doubt 
about. He missed me this time, but his next shot may 
be more successful. At any rate, I think that it is high 
time that I told you the story.” 

And beginning with the arrival of Colonel Thorndyke 
at his place, he repeated the conversation that he had 
had with him. Several times in the early portion of his 
narrative he was interrupted by exclamations of surprise 
from his son. 

“Then Millicent is really my uncle’s heiress?” ex- 
claimed Mark, when he heard the request the colonel 
had made of the Squire. 

“That is so, Mark. She does not know it herself, 
and it was my brother’s urgent wish that she should 
not know it until she came of age or until she married. 


94 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


I fought against it to the utmost, but it was his dying 
prayer, and I could not refuse it. My solicitor knows 
the facts of the matter, and so does Mrs. Cunningham, 
who brought Millicent over from India when she was 
only about a year old. I may say that I especially 
urged that it would not be fair to you to be brought 
up to consider yourself to be heir to the property, but 
he said, — 

“ ‘ Putting aside the estate, I have a considerable 
fortune. In the first place there are the accumulations 
of rent from the Reigate place. I have never touched 
them, and they have been going on for twelve years. 
In the next place, the shaking of the Pagoda tree has 
gone on merrily, and we all made a comfortable pile. 
Then I always made a point of carrying about with me 
£200 or £300, and after the sacking of some of the 
palaces, I could pick up jewels and things from the 
troops for a trifle, being able to pay money down. 
Even without the rents here, I have some £5 0,000 in 
money. I should think the jewels would be worth at 
least ^25,000 more, irrespective of a diamond bracelet, 
which is, I fancy, worth more than the rest put together. 
It was stolen from the arm of some idol.’ He then ex- 
plained how he got it, and the manner in which v he had 
placed it and the rest of his wealth, in a secure position. 

“ ‘ Those things stolen from a god are frightfully 
dangerous,’ he said, ‘ for the Brahmins or priests con- 
nected with the temples have been known to follow 
them up for years, and in nine cases out of ten they 
get possession of them again. Murder in such a case 
is meritorious, and I would not have them in the house 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


95 


here were they ten times the value they are. I know 
that my clothes, my drawers, and everything belonging 
to me has been gone through at night a score of times. 
Nothing has been stolen, but, being a methodical man, I 
could generally see some displacement in the things 
that told me they had been disturbed. They gave it 
up for a time, but I haven’t a shadow of doubt that 
they have been watching me ever since, and they may 
be watching me now for anything I know. Now, half 
of that fortune I have left, by my will, to your son ; 
half to the girl. I will tell you where the things are, 
the last thing. 

“ ‘ Now, mind, you must be careful when you get 
them. When I am dead you are almost certain to be 
watched. You don’t know what these fellows are. 
The things must remain where they are until your boy 
comes of age. Don’t let him keep those diamonds an 
hour in his possession ; let him pass them away privately 
to some man in whom he has implicit confidence, for 
him to take them to a jeweller’s ; let him double and 
turn and disguise himself so as to throw everyone that 
may be spying on him off his track. If you can 
manage it, the best way would be to carry them over 
to Amsterdam, and sell them there.’ 

“ I confess it seemed absurd, but it is a matter about 
which he would know a great deal more than I do, and 
he was convinced that not only was he watched, but 
that he owed his life simply to the fact that the fellows 
did not know where the diamonds were hidden, and 
that by killing him they would have lost every chance of 
regaining them. 


9 6 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ So convinced was he of all this, that he would not 
tell me where he had stowed them away ; he seemed to 
think that the very walls would hear us, and that these 
fellows might be hidden under the sofa, in a cupboard, 
or up the chimney, for aught I know. He told me that 
he would tell me the secret before he died ; but death 
came so suddenly that he never had an opportunity of 
doing so. He made a tremendous effort in his last 
moment, but failed, and I shall never forget the anguish 
his face expressed when he found himself powerless to 
speak ; however, he pressed his snuff box into my hand 
with such a significant look that, being certain that it 
contained some clue to the mystery, and being unable 
to find a hidden spring or a receptacle, I broke it open 
that night. 

“ It contained a false bottom, and here are what I 
found in it. I stowed them away in a secret drawer in 
that old cabinet that stands by my bedside. It is in the 
bottom pigeon-hole on the right-hand side. I bought 
the cabinet at a sale, and found the spring of the secret 
drawer quite accidentally. I shall put the things back 
to-night, and you will know where to look for them. 
You press on the bottom and up against the top simul- 
taneously, and the back then falls forward. The open- 
ing behind is very shallow, and will hold but two or 
three letters. But, however, it sufficed for this.” And 
he handed Mark the coin and slip of paper. 

“ But what are these, father ?” 

“ These are the clues by which we are to obtain the 
treasure.” 

As Mark examined them carefully, the Squire stood 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


9 7 

up with his back to the fire, and, looking round, walked 
to the door, and said, — 

“ I thought there was a draught somewhere ; either 
Ramoo did not shut the door when he went out, or it 
has come open again. It has done that once or twice 
before. When I go into the town to-morrow I will tell 
Tucker to send a man up to take the lock off Well, 
what do you make out of that?” 

“I can make out nothing,” Mark replied. “No 
doubt the coin is something to be given to whoever is 
in charge of the treasure, and Masulipatam may be the 
place where it is hidden.” 

“Yes, or it may be a password. It reminds one of 
the forty thieves business. You go and knock at the 
door of a cave, a figure armed to the teeth presents 
itself ; you whisper in his ear ‘ Masulipatam he replies 
‘Madras’ or ‘Calcutta,’ or something of that sort ; you 
take out the coin and show it to him ; he takes out from 
some hidden repository another similar to it ; he com- 
pares the two, and then leads you to an inner cave piled 
up with jewels.” 

Mark laughed. 

“Well, it is no laughing matter, Mark,” the Squire 
went on, seriously. “ The little comedy may not be 
played just as I have sketched it, but I expect that it is 
something of the kind. That coin has to be shown, and 
the word ‘ Masulipatam’ spoken to the guardian, who- 
ever he may be, of your uncle’s treasure. But who that 
guardian may be or how he is to be found is a mystery. 
I myself have never tried to solve it. There was noth- 
ing whatever to go upon. The thing may be in England 

7 


98 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


or it may be anywhere in India. To me it looked an 
an absolutely hopeless business to set about I did not 
see how even a first step was to be taken, and as I had 
this estate and you and Millicent to look after, and was 
no longer a young man, I put the matter aside alto- 
gether. You are young, you have plenty of energy, 
and you have your life before you, and it is a matter of 
the greatest interest to you. 

“ Possibly, very improbably, mind, still possibly, when 
Millicent comes of age and learns who she is, Mrs. Cun- 
ningham may be able to help you. I have no idea 
whether it is so. I have never spoken to her about this 
treasure of George’s, but it is just possible that while he 
was in town before he came down to me he may have 
given her some instructions concerning it. Of course 
he intended to give me full particulars, but he could 
hardly have avoided seeing that in the event of my 
death, perhaps suddenly, before the time for seeking the 
treasure, the secret would be lost altogether. Whether 
he has told her or his lawyer or not I cannot say, but I 
have all along clung to the hope that he took some such 
natural precaution. Unless that treasure is discovered, 
the only thing that will come to you is the half of the 
rents of this estate during the ten years between my 
father’s death and George’s ; the rents were paid to our 
solicitors, and by them invested.” 

“ I am sure I have no reason to grumble, father,” 
Mark said, heartily ; “ of course it came upon me at 
first as a surprise that Millicent was the heiress here, 
and it flashed through my mind for the moment that the 
best thing would be to take a commission in the army, 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


99 


or to follow my uncle’s example, and get a cadetship in 
the Company’s service. I have no doubt that I should 
have enjoyed life either way quite as much or possibly 
more than if I had gone on a good many years as heir 
to these estates, and afterwards as Squire. Of course, 
now I shall see if it is possible to obtain some sort of 
clue to this treasure, and then follow it up ; but the first 
thing to which I shall give my mind will be to hunt down 
Bastow. We shall never feel safe here as long as that 
fellow is alive, and that will be the first thing I shall 
devote myself to. After that I shall see about the 
treasure. ” 

“As to that, Mark, I cannot impress upon you too 
strongly what your uncle said. It may, of course, be a 
pure delusion on his part. As to that I cannot say, 
but if he is right, and some of these Hindoo fellows 
are still on the watch to obtain that bracelet, you must 
use extraordinary precautions when you get it into your 
hands ; he advised me to take it across to Amsterdam 
and either get the stones recut or to sell them separately 
to different diamond merchants there. He said that my 
life would not be worth an hour’s purchase as long as 
the stones were in my hands.” 

Suddenly Mark sprang to his feet and pulled back 
the curtains across a window, threw it up and leapt into 
the garden, and there stood listening for two or three 
minutes, with his pistol cocked in his hand. He stepped 
for a moment into the room again. 

“ You had better put that light out, father, or we may 
have another shot.” 

“Did you hear anything, Mark?” 


IOO 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ I thought I did, father ; I may have been mistaken, 
but I certainly thought I heard a noise, and when I 
pulled the curtains aside the window was not shut by 
three or four inches. I will have a look through the 
shrubbery, that fellow may have come back again. 
Pull the curtains to after me.” 

“ I will go with you, Mark.” 

“ I would rather you didn’t, father ; it would only 
make me nervous. I shan’t go into the shrubbery 
and give them a chance of getting first shot. I shall 
hide up somewhere and listen. It is a still night, and 
if there is anyone moving I am pretty sure to hear 
him.” 

The Squire turned down the lamp, drew the curtains, 
and seated himself by the fire. It was three-quarters 
of an hour before Mark returned. He shut the window 
and fastened it carefully. 

“I fancy you must have been mistaken, Mark.” 

“ I suppose that shot through the window has made 
me nervous. I certainly did fancy I heard a noise 
there ; it may have been a dead bough snapping, or 
something of that sort ; and, of course, the window being 
partly open, even though only three or four inches, any 
little noise would come in more plainly than it other- 
wise would. However, everything has been perfectly 
quiet since I went out, and it is hardly likely, indeed, 
that the fellow would have returned so soon after the 
hot chase I gave him.” 



CHAPTER VII. 

I T was some hours before Mark went to sleep. The 
news that he had heard that evening was strange 
and startling. Full of health and strength, the 
fact that he was not, as he had always supposed, the 
heir to the estate, troubled him not at all. The fact that 
in four years he would come in for some ;£i 2,000 was 
sufficient to prevent his feeling any uneasiness as to his 
future ; and, indeed, in some respects, it was not an un- 
pleasant idea that, instead of being tied down to the 
estate, he should be able to wander at will, visit foreign 
countries, and make his own life. 

In one respect he was sorry his father had in the last 
year hinted more than once that it would be a very nice 
arrangement if he were to make up a match with his 
ward : he had laughed and said that there would be 
plenty of time for that yet. But the idea had been an 
agreeable one. He was very fond of Miilicent — fond, 
perhaps, in a cousinly way, at present ; but, at any rate, 
he liked her far better than any of the sisters of his 

101 


102 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


friends. Of course, she was only seventeen yet, and 
there was plenty of time to think of marriage in another 
three years. Still the thought occurred to him several 
times that she was budding out into a young woman, 
and every month added to her attractions. It was but 
the day before he had said to himself that there was no 
reason to wait as long as three years, especially as his 
father seemed anxious and much disposed towards the 
match. Now, of course, he said to himself, that was at 
an end. 

He had never acted in any way as a lover before, and 
now that she was the heiress and he comparatively poor, 
she would consider it was his desire for the estate and 
not for her that induced his wooing. Then there was 
the question of this curiously lost treasure, with the 
mysterious clue that led to nothing. How on earth was 
he to set about the quest ? He puzzled for a long time 
over this till at last he fell asleep. He was roused by 
Ramoo entering the room. 

“What is it, Ramoo?” 

“ Me not know, sahib. Massa Thorn dyke’s door 
shut. Me no able to make him hear.” 

“That is curious, Ramoo,” Mark said, jumping hastily 
out of bed. “ I will be with you in a minute.” He 
slipped on his trousers, coat, and slippers, and then 
accompanied Ramoo to his father’s door. He knocked 
again and again, and each time more loudly, his face 
growing paler as he did so. Then he threw himself 
against the door, but it was solid and heavy. 

“Fetch me an axe, Ramoo,” he said. “There is 
something wrong here.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


103 


Ramoo returned in a short time with two men-servants 
and with the axe in his hands. Mark took it, and with 
a few mighty blows split the wood-work, and then, hurl- 
ing himself against the door, it yielded. As he entered 
the room a cry broke from his lips. Within a pace or 
two of the bed the Squire lay on the ground, on his face, 
and a deep stain on the carpet at once showed that his 
death had been a violent one. Mark knelt by his side 
now, and touched him. The body was stiff and cold. 
The Squire must have been dead for some hours. 

“ Murdered !” he said, in a low voice ; “ my father has 
been murdered.” He remained in horror-struck silence 
for a minute or two, then he slowly rose to his feet. 

“Let us lay him on the bed,” he said, and with 
the assistance of the three men he lifted and laid him 
there. 

“ He has been stabbed,” he murmured, pointing to a 
small cut in the middle of the deep stain, just over the 
heart. 

Ramoo, after helping to lift the Squire on to the bed, 
had slid down to the floor and crouched there, sobbing 
convulsively. The two servants stood helpless and 
aghast. Mark looked round the room : the window 
was open. He walked to it. A garden ladder stood 
outside, showing how the assassin had obtained entrance. 
Mark stood rigid and silent, his hands tightly clenched, 
his breath coming slowly and heavily. At last he 
roused himself. 

“Leave things just as they are,” he said to the men 
in a tone of unnatural calmness, “ and fasten the door 
up again and turn a table or something of that sort 


104 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


against it from the outside, so that no one can come in. 
John, do you tell one of the grooms to saddle a horse and 
ride down into the town. Let him tell the head con- 
stable to come up at once, and also Dr. Holloway. Then 
he is to go on to Sir Charles Harris, tell him what has 
happened, and beg him to ride over at once. Come, 
Ramoo,” he said, in a softer voice, “you can do no 
good here, poor fellow, and the room must be closed. 
It is a heavy loss to you, too.” 

The Hindoo rose slowly, the tears streaming down 
his face. 

“He was a good master,” he said, “and I loved him 
just as I loved the colonel, sahib. Ramoo would have 
given his life for him.” 

With his hand upon Ramoo’s shoulder, Mark left the 
room ; he passed a group of women huddled together 
with blanched faces, at a short distance down the pas- 
sage, the news that the Squire’s door could not be 
opened and the sounds made by its being broken in 
having called them together. Mark could not speak. 
He silently shook his head and passed on. As he 
reached his room he heard shrieks and cries behind 
him as the men informed them of what had taken 
place. On reaching his door, the one opposite opened, 
and Mrs. Cunningham in a dressing-gown came out. 

“ What is the matter, Mark, and what are these cries 
about?” 

“ A dreadful thing has happened, Mrs. Cunningham ; 
my father has been murdered in the night. Please tell 
Millicent.” 

Then he closed the door behind him, threw himself 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


105 


on his bed, and burst into a passion of tears. The 
Squire had been a good father to him, and had made 
him his friend and companion, a treatment rare, indeed, 
at a time when few sons would think of sitting down in 
their father’s presence until told to do so. Since he 
had left school eight years before, they had been veiy 
much together. For the last two or three years Mark 
had been a good deal out with his own friends, but in 
this his father had encouraged him. 

“ I like to see you make your own friends, Mark, and 
go your own way,” he used to say ; “it is as bad for a 
lad to be tied to his father’s coat-tail as to his mother’s 
apron-string. You get fresh ideas and form your own 
opinions. It will do for you what a public school would 
have done, — make you self-reliant and independent.” 

Still, of course, a great portion of his time had been 
spent with his father, and they would ride round the es- 
tate together, talk to the tenants, and walk in the gardens 
and forcing-houses. Generally Mark would be driven 
by his father to the meet if it took place at any dis- 
tance, and send on his horse beforehand by a groom, 
while of an evening they would sit in the library, smoke 
their long pipes, and talk over politics or the American 
and French wars. 

All this was over. There was but one thing now 
that he could do for his father, and that was revenge 
his death, and at the thought he rose from his bed im- 
patiently and paced up and down the room. He must 
wait for a week, wait till the funeral was over, and then 
he would be on Bastow’s track. If in all other ways he 
failed, he would spend his time in coaches until at last 


o6 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


the villain should try to stop one ; but there must be 
other ways. Could he find no other, he would apply for 
employment as a Bow Street runner, serve for a year to 
find out their methods, and acquaint himself with the 
places where criminals were harboured. It would be 
the one object of his life, until he succeeded in laying 
his hand on Bastow’s shoulder. He would not shoot 
him if he could help it. He should prefer to see him 
in the dock and to hear the sentence passed on him and 
to see it carried out. As to the treasure, it was not 
worth a thought till his first duty was discharged. 

Presently a servant brought him a cup of tea. He 
drank it mechanically and then proceeded to dress 
himself. Sir Charles Harris would be here soon and 
the others ; indeed, he had scarcely finished when he 
was told that the doctor from Reigate had just arrived, 
and that the constable had come up half an hour before. 
He at once went down to the library into which the 
doctor had been shown. 

“You have heard what has happened,” he said, as he 
shook hands silently. “ I expect Sir Charles Harris here 
in half an hour. I suppose you will not go up till 
then. ” 

“No, I think it will be best that no one should go in 
until he comes. I have been speaking to Simcox ; he 
was going in, but I told him I thought it was better to 
wait. I may as well take the opportunity of going up- 
stairs to see Mr. Bastow. I hear that he fainted when 
he heard the news, and that he is completely prostrate.” 

“ Two such shocks might well prove fatal to him,” 
Mark said ; “ he has been weak and ailing for some time.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


107 


“Two shocks?” the doctor repeated, interrogatively. 

“ Ah ! I forgot you had not heard about the affair 
yesterday evening : a man fired at us through the win- 
dow when we were sitting round the fire, before the 
candles were lit. The ball passed between my father’s 
head and Mr. Bastow’s ; each had a narrow escape ; the 
bullet is embedded in the mantel-piece.” 

“ I will have it cut out ; it may be a useful item of 
evidence some day. But what could have been the 
man’s motive? Your father was universally popular.” 

“ Except with ill-doers,” Mark said. “ I ran out and 
chased the fellow for half a mile, and should have caught 
him if he had not had a horse waiting for him in a lane, 
and he got off by the skin of his teeth. I hope that 
next time I meet him he will not be so lucky. Mr. 
Bastow was very much shaken, and went to bed soon 
afterwards. I am not surprised that this second shock 
should be too much for him. Will you go up and see 
him? I will speak to Simcox.” 

The constable was out in the garden. 

“This is a terrible business, Mr. Thorndyke. I 
suppose, after what you told me, you have your sus- 
picions ?” 

“ They are not suspicions at all, they are certainties. 
Did you hear that he tried to shoot my father yesterday 
evening?” 

“No, sir, I have heard nothing about it.” 

Mark repeated the story of the attempt and pursuit. 

“Could you swear to him, Mr. Thorndyke?” 

“ No ; there was not much light left ; besides, as I had 
not seen him for the last eight years, I should certainly 


io8 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

not be able to recognise him unless I had time to have 
a good look at him ; had it only been last night’s affair 
it might have been anyone ; but the shooting through 
the window was not the act of a thief, but of an assas- 
sin, who could only have been influenced by private 
enmity. I quite see that at present I have no legal evi- 
dence against him ; I cannot even prove that he is in the 
country, for it cannot be said that my father’s belief that 
he recognised the voice of the man who said, ‘Stand 
and deliver !’ is proof. No jury would convict on that, 
even had he felt absolutely certain, which he was not. 
I doubt if anyone could swear that, when he only heard 
three words, he was absolutely sure that it was the voice 
of a man that he had not seen for some years. How- 
ever, fortunately, that will make no difference ; the man 
is wanted for his heading a mutiny in the convict prison 
at Sydney, killing several warders, and making his escape, 
which will be quite sufficient to hang him without this 
business. But I own that I should prefer that he were 
hanged for my father’s murder if we could secure suffi- 
cient evidence. Moreover, there is the attack upon us 
three or four months ago, and, with the evidence of the 
surgeon who attended him, as to his wound, that would 
be enough to hang him. But we have first got to catch 
him, and that I mean to make my business, however long 
the search may take me.” 

“Was anything taken last night, sir?” 

“ I don’t know. I did not look. We shall see to that 
when we go upstairs. We may as well go indoors now ; 
Sir Charles may be here in a few minutes, and I want to 
hear Dr. Holloway’s report as to Mr. Bastow.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


109 


“ He does not suspect, I hope, sir?” 

“No, thank God ! my father never mentioned any- 
thing he heard about his son to him, or his suspicions ; 
therefore, he has no reason to believe that his son is not 
still in the convict prison at Sydney. We shall keep it 
from him now, whatever happens ; but it would, for his 
sake, be best that this shock should prove too much for 
him. He has had a very hard time of it altogether.” 

“He is terribly prostrate,” the doctor reported, when 
Mark joined him. “ I don’t think that he will get over 
it. He is scarcely conscious now. You see, he is an 
old man, and has no reserve of strength to fall back 
upon. Your father has been such a good friend to him 
that it is not surprising that the news should have been 
too much for him. I examined him at the Squire’s re- 
quest some month’s ago as to his heart’s action, which 
was so weak that I told the Squire then that he might 
go off at any time, and I rather wonder that he recovered 
even temporarily from the shock.” 

In a few minutes Sir Charles Harris drove up. 

“This is terrible news, my dear Mark,” he said, as he 
leapt from his gig, and wrung Mark’s hand ; “ terrible ! 
I don’t know when I have had such a shock ; he was a 
noble fellow in all respects, a warm friend, an excellent 
magistrate, a kind landlord, good all round. I can 
scarcely believe it yet. A burglar, of course. I sup- 
pose he entered the house for the purpose of robbery, 
when your father awoke and jumped out of bed, there 
was a tussle, and the scoundrel killed him ; at least, that 
is what I gather from the story that the groom told 
me.” 


I IO 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


An examination of the room showed nothing what- 
ever that would afford the slightest clue ; the Squire’s 
watch was still in the watch-pocket at the head of the 
bed, his purse was on a small table beside him ; appa- 
rently nothing had been touched in the room. 

The gardener, on being called in, said that the ladder 
was always hung up outside the shed at the back of the 
house ; there was a chain round it, and he had found 
that morning that one of the links had been filed through. 

‘ ‘ I expect the fellow was prowling about here for 
some time,” Mark said. “ I was chatting with my father 
in the library when I thought I heard a noise, and I 
threw open the window, which had by some carelessness 
been left a little open, and went out, and listened for 
nearly an hour, but I could hear nothing, and put it 
down to the fact that I was nervous owing to what had 
happened early in the evening, and that the noise was 
simply fancy, or that the frost had caused a dry branch 
of one of the shrubs to crack.” 



CHAPTER VIII. 

T HE inquest occupied a very short time, the only 
point on which many questions were asked being 
as to the firing through the window. Mark stated 
that it was already so dark that, although he was within 
fifty yards of the man when he mounted and rode off, 
he could not give any very distinct description of his 
figure. It struck him as being that of a man of medium 
height. 

“ You have made out that the bullet was intended for 
your father?” 

“ I cannot say that, sir ; it went between his head and 
that of Mr. Bastow, and it might have been meant for 
either.” 

“Was your father impressed with the idea that it was 
an attempt to murder him ?” 

“ He naturally thought so. Mr. Bastow can assuredly 
have no enemies, while my father, as a magistrate, may 
have made some. He certainly thought it was an at- 
tempt to murder him, and was so impressed by the fact 

hi 


I 12 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


that when he went to the library later on he went into 
certain family matters with me that he had never com- 
municated before, and which, had it not been for this, 
he would not have entered into for some years to come.” 

“ He had his opinion then as to who was his assail- 
ant ?” 

“ He had, sir ; but as it was but an opinion, although 
there were several facts that seemed to justify the convic- 
tion, there was no proof whatever, and therefore I do not 
think myself justified in saying what that opinion was.” 

“ Do you entertain the same opinion yourself?” 

“I do,” Mark said, emphatically; “but until I can 
obtain some evidence in support of what is really but a 
matter of opinion, and because were I to give the name 
it would lessen my chance of obtaining such evidence, I 
decline to mention the name.” 

“You have no doubt that the author of the second 
attempt is the same as that of the first?” 

“ Personally, I have no doubt whatever ; it stands to 
reason that it is barely possible that two men could have, 
unknown to each other, made up their minds to murder 
my father on the same evening.” 

The constable’s evidence added nothing to that given 
by Mark. He had been down to the lane where the 
man pursued had mounted. The reins of the horse had 
apparently been thrown over a gate-post, and he thought 
it had been standing there for some little time, for there 
were marks where it had scraped the ground repeatedly ; 
he had followed the marks of its hoofs for some distance ; 
it had gone at a gallop for about half a mile, and then 
the pace had slackened into a trot. It continued until 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


13 


the lane fell into the main road, but beyond this he had 
been unable to distinguish it from the marks of the traffic 
in general. 

“ You found no footprints whatever near the foot of 
the ladder or anywhere else round the house ?” 

“None whatever, sir.” 

“ There were no signs of any other window or door 
save that of Mr. Thorn dyke’s room being, attempted ?” 

“ None at all, sir.” 

There was but a short consultation between the jurors, 
who at once returned a verdict of “Wilful murder by 
some person or persons unknown.” 

Dr. Holloway had, after giving evidence, returned at 
once to Mr. Bastow’s room. The only point of impor- 
tance in his evidence was the statement that the wound 
must have been fatal at once, the heart itself having been 
penetrated. It had been inflicted by a dagger or a nar- 
row-bladed knife. 

“ Do you mean that it was an unusually small dagger, 
Dr. Holloway?” 

“ I should say it was a very fine dagger ; not the sort 
of weapon that you would expect to find a highwayman 
carry, if he carried one at all, but rather a weapon of 
Spanish or Italian manufacture.” 

“ Not the sort of wound that a rapier would make?” 

“Yes, the wound itself might have been very well 
made by a light rapier, but there was a slight bruise on 
the flesh on each side of the wound, such a mark as 
might be made by the handle or guard of a dagger and 
sufficiently plain to leave no doubt in my mind that it 
was so made.” 


8 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


1 14 

“ Had the wound a downward course, or was it a 
straight thrust ?” 

“A straight thrust,” the doctor replied ; “my idea is 
that the two men were grappling together, and that as 
Mr. Thorndyke was a very powerful man, his assailant, 
who probably was approaching the bed with the dagger 
in his hand, plunged it into him ; had he struck at him 
I should certainly have expected the course of the 
wound to be downward, as I fancy a man very seldom 
thrusts straight with a dagger, as he would do with a 
rapier.” 

When the inquest was over, Mark, going out into the 
hall, found the doctor waiting there for him. 

“Mr. Bastow breathed his last some ten minutes ago. 
I saw when I went up to him just before I gave my evi- 
dence that it was likely that he would die before I re- 
turned to the room.” 

“I am very sorry,” Mark said, “although I expected 
nothing else from what you told me. He was a very 
kind-hearted man ; no one could have had a kinder or 
more patient tutor than he was to me, while my father 
regarded him as a very dear and valued friend. I am 
expecting the undertaker here in a few minutes, and 
they can both be buried at the same time.” 

It was late in the afternoon before Millicent came 
down with Mrs. Cunningham. The news of Mr. Bas- 
tow’ s death had set her tears flowing afresh ; she had 
been very fond of him, and that he and the Squire 
should have been taken at once seemed almost beyond 
belief. She had, however, nerved herself to some 
degree of composure before she went down to meet 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


US 

Mark, but although she returned the pressure of his 
hand, she was unable for some time to speak. Mrs. 
Cunningham thought it best to speak first of the minor 
grief. 

“So Mr. Bastow has gone, Mark?” 

“Yes ; Dr. Holloway thought very badly of him from 
the first, and said that he had but very faint hope of his 
rallying. I cannot help thinking that it was best so. 
Of course, he was not a very old man, but he has for 
some years been a very feeble one, and now that Milli- 
cent and I have both given up our studies with him, I 
think that he would have felt that his work was done, 
and would have gone down hill very fast.” 

“I think so, too,” Mrs. Cunningham agreed. “I am 
sure that even had the Squire’s death come quietly, in 
the course of nature, it would have been a terrible blow 
to him. He was fond of you and Millicent, but his 
affection for your father was a passion, his face always 
lit up when he spoke to him. I used to think some- 
times that it was like an old dog with his master. It 
was quite touching to see them together. I think, 
Mark, with you, that it is best that it should be as it 
is.” 

Gradually the conversation turned to other matters. 
Millicent was, however, unable to take any part in it, 
and half an hour later she held out her hand silently to 
Mark and left the room hurriedly. The next day she 
was better, and was able to walk for a time with Mark 
in the garden and talk more calmly about their mutual 
loss, for to her, no less than to Mark, the Squire had 
been a father. 


6 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ ’Tis strange to think that you are the Squire now, 
Mark,” she said, as they sat together in the dining-room 
on the evening before the funeral. 

“You will think it stranger still, Millicent,” he said, 
“when I tell you that I am not the Squire, and never 
shall be.” 

She looked up in his face with wonder. 

“ What do you mean, Mark ?” 

“ Well, dear, you will know to-morrow, as Mr. Pren- 
dergast, one of the family solicitors, is coming down, 
but I think it is as well to tell you beforehand. It has 
been a curious position all along. I never knew it my- 
self till my father told me when we went into the library 
after the shot was fired. The news did not affect me 
one way or the other, although it surprised me a great 
deal. Like yourself, I have always supposed that you 
were my father’s ward, the daughter of an old comrade 
of his brother’s. Well, it is a curious story, Millicent. 
But there is no occasion for you to look frightened. The 
fact is, you are my uncle’s daughter and my cousin.” 

“Oh, that is not very dreadful !” she exclaimed, in a 
tone of relief. 

“Not dreadful at all,” Mark said. “But you see it 
involves the fact that you are the qwner of this estate, 
and not I.” 

Millicent stood up suddenly, with a little cry. 

“No, no, Mark, it cannot be. It would be dreadful, 
and I won’t have it. Nothing could make me have it. 
What, to take the estate away from you, when you have 
all along supposed it to be yours ! How could I ?” 

“But you see it never has been mine, my dear. 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 1 17 

Father might have lived another five-and-twenty years, 
and God knows I have never looked forward to succeed- 
ing him. Sit down and let me tell you the story. It 
was not my father’s fault that he reigned here so long as 
master. It was the result of a whim of your father’s. 
And although my father fought against it, he could not 
resist the dying prayer of my uncle.” 

He then related the whole circumstances under which 
the girl had been brought up as Millicent Conyers, in- 
stead of Millicent Conyers Thorndyke, and how the 
estate had been left by Colonel Thorndyke’s will to his 
brother, until such time as Millicent should come of age, 
or marry, and how he had ordered that when that event 
took place, the rest of his property in money and jewels 
was to be divided equally between Mark and herself. 

“ Mrs. Cunningham has known this all along, Mark ?” 

“ Yes, of course. She brought you from India, you 
see, and has known all along that the colonel was your 
father. She knows it, and the family solicitors know it, 
but I believe no one else, except, perhaps, Ramoo. I 
am not sure whether he was in uncle’s service when you 
were sent over in Mrs. Cunningham’s charge. He may 
know it or he may not, but certainly no one else does, 
except, as I say, the solicitors and myself. Possibly 
some other of the colonel’s old comrades knew that 
there was a child born, but if they were in England and 
happened to hear that my father had succeeded to the 
estate, they would, of course, suppose that the child had 
died.” 

“Then,” Millicent said, in a tone of relief, “there can 
be no reason why anyone else should know anything 


8 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


about it. I will see Mr. Prendergast when he comes 
down to-morrow, and beg him to say nothing about it. 
^15,000 is quite enough for any girl, and, besides, you 
say that my father’s greatest wish was that I was not to 
be married for money, and after all the pains that have 
been taken, his wish will not be carried out if I am to be 
made owner of the estate.” 

“You won’t be able to persuade Mr. Prendergast to 
do that,” Mark said, smiling. “ It is his duty simply to 
carry out the provisions of your father’s will, and to 
place you in possession of the estate, and if he would 
keep silence, which he certainly won’t, you don’t sup- 
pose that I would.” 

“Then I shall hate you, Mark.” 

“ I don’t think you will, Millicent, and I would rather 
that you did that than that you should despise me ; at the 
present moment you may think that this estate would 
be only a burden to you, but some day when you marry 
you might see the matter in a different light.” 

The girl looked at him reproachfully. 

At this moment, Mrs. Cunningham coming into the 
room, Millicent ran to her and threw her arms round 
her neck. 

“ He has made me miserable,” she said. “ I thought 
I could not have been more miserable than I was before 
he told me all about it.” 

“ I knew that he was going to do so, and I was quite 
sure that you would not be pleased at the news. I 
have all along thought that it was a mistake on the 
part of your father ; but as it was his decision, and not 
mine, I only had to carry out his wishes.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


119 

“It is cruel,” Millicent sobbed. “I don’t mean it is 
cruel of my father ; of course, he could not have known, 
and he thought he was doing the best thing for my 
happiness, but it has all turned out wrong.” 

“ For the present you may think so, dear ; but you 
must remember that up to the present time it has 
turned out well. I know that your uncle did not like it 
at first, but I think that he passed ten happy years here. 
It gave him great power for doing good, and he worthily 
availed himself of it. We have all spent a happy time ; 
he was universally liked and respected. I think all of 
us have benefited by it. It would not have been half 
so pleasant if it had been known that you, my child, 
were the real owner of the estate, and he was acting 
merely as your guardian ; let us hope that everything 
will turn out as well in future. Colonel Thorndyke 
told me that he had left a considerable sum in addition 
to the estates, and that this was to be divided between 
you and Mark ; so you see your cousin will not go out 
into the world a beggar.” 

“ It is most of it lost,” Millicent said, with an hysteri- 
cal laugh. “ It is all hidden away, and no one can find 
it ; everything has gone wrong together.” 

“Well, I think, dear, that you had better go up to 
bed. I will go with you ; at the present time this, of 
course, has come upon you as an additional shock. I 
would gladly have shielded you from it for a time if I 
could have done so, but you must have learned it to- 
morrow, and I quite agreed with Mark that it was better 
that he should tell you this evening. I sent down to 
the town to-day to the doctor’s, and asked him to send 


120 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


me up a soothing draught, thinking, that you might be 
upset by the news. I hope by the morning you will be 
able to look at matters more calmly.” 

The next morning Mr. Prendergast, who had arrived 
at Reigate late the evening before, and had put up at 
an inn, came up to the house an hour before the time 
named for the funeral. He learnt from Mark that he 
had already acquainted Millicent with her change of 
circumstances. A few minutes after he arrived, a ser- 
vant told him that Miss Conyers would be glad if he 
would see her alone for a few minutes in the draw- 
ing-room. Mark had already prepared him for her 
request. 

“ Mark has told you what he told me last night, I 
suppose, Mr. Prendergast?” 

“He has,” the old lawyer said, kindly, “and he 
tells me also that you are not at all pleased at the 
news.” 

“ Pleased ! I should think not, Mr. Prendergast,” she 
said, indignantly. “ I am unwilling to rob my cousin of 
what he has always been taught to regard as his inheri- 
tance. It is abominable, I call it, and most unnatural.” 

“ But, my dear young lady, it is yours and not his. I 
do not wish to discuss whether the arrangement was 
altogether a wise one, but I think that so far it has 
turned out well for all parties. Your estate has profited 
greatly by the management of your uncle, the tenants 
and all connected with it have benefited greatly, he him- 
self has had active employment afforded him, of which 
he was fond. Your cousin has, I believe, enjoyed the 
advantages of the position, and has become acquainted 



Mark stripped, and the man walked around him critically. 




THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


1 2 1 


with the best people in this part of the country, and will 
now obtain the benefit of something like £15,000; a 
comfortable little sum, especially as he inherits, I be- 
lieve, his father’s property in Sussex. You yourself will 
have obtained what I cannot but consider the advantage 
of having been brought up without knowing that you 
were an heiress, and therefore without being spoiled, 
which is, in my opinion, the case with many young ladies 
in such a condition ; therefore, I cannot but think that 
if unwise in its conception, the matter has so far worked 
out well. I am bound to say that Mr. Mark Thorndyke 
has been speaking to me very handsomely on the sub- 
ject, and that he appears in no way disappointed at find- 
ing that you are the heiress of the estate, and is really 
concerned only at your unwillingness to accept the situ- 
ation.” 

“I wanted to know, Mr. Prendergast,” she said, but 
in a tone that showed she was convinced by his manner 
that her request would be refused, “ if you could ar- 
range so that things would not be disturbed, and he 
should come into possession as his father’s heir in the 
natural way.” 

“ But you see, he is not his father’s heir, Miss Thorn- 
dyke. His father only had the use, as we call it, of the 
property until you came of age, or married ; it was not 
necessary for it to come to you on your coming of age, 
but only, as your father explained to me, in the event of 
your marriage ; that is to say, it was not to become 
public that you were entitled to the estate until your 
marriage. If you married before you were twenty-one, 
the property was then to come to you. If you did not, 


122 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


you were to be informed of the circumstances or not, 
as Mr. Thorndyke might decide was best, but you were 
not to come into the property until you married. Your 
cousin was also to be informed when you came to the 
age of twenty-one, and as at that time he was to take his 
half-share of the remainder of the property, he would 
then be able to arrange his life as he liked. If your 
uncle died, as unfortunately he has done, before you 
reached the age of twenty-one, you would then be 
placed in your proper position ; but your father desired 
us to say to you that it was his wish that, if it could be ar- 
ranged, your having succeeded to the ownership should 
not be publicly known until you divulged it to your hus- 
band after marriage. The other portions of the will 
must be carried out. This being only a request, you are 
at liberty to follow it or not, as you may choose.” 

“ Certainly I should choose,” the girl said. “ After all 
this trouble to prevent my being run after as an heiress, 
it would be wicked on my part to upset and to fly in 
the face of his wishes by setting up as mistress of this 
estate. Still, you understand, Mr. Prendergast, that I 
don’t mean to take it.” 

The lawyer smiled indulgently. 

“ There is one way in which it might be managed,” 
he said. “ Perhaps you can guess what it is?” 

A flush of colour rose over the girl’s face. 

“ Don’t say it, Mr. Prendergast. Mrs. Cunningham 
hinted at it this morning, and I told her that my own 
wish entirely agreed with that of my father, and that I 
was determined not to be married for money ; and I am 
quite sure that Mark would be as unwilling as I am that 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


123 


the estate should change hands in that way. No, Mr. 
Prendergast, you must find some other way of doing it 
than that. Surely an estate cannot be forced upon any 
one who is determined not to take it.” 

“ Well, we must think it over,” Mr. Prendergast said, 
quietly. “ And now I think that it is time for me to 
join the others.” 



CHAPTER IX. 

T HE funeral of Squire Thorndyke and Mr. Bastow 
was over, and all agreed they had never seen a 
more affecting spectacle than that at the church- 
yard when the two coffins were brought in. The dis- 
tance was short, and the tenants had requested leave to 
carry the Squire’s bier, while that of Mr. Bastow was 
borne by the villagers who had known and loved him. 
Behind followed all the magistrates and a great number 
of the gentry for miles round ; the church-yard was 
crowded by every man, woman, and child in the village, 
and the women as well as many of the men wept un- 
restrainedly as the coffins passed by. Besides these, a 
large number of gentlemen from Reigate and the sur- 
rounding villages were present, attracted rather by the 
crime that had caused the death than by the death of 
the Squire himself. The church was crowded, and it was 
with difficulty that Mr. Greg read the service. The Squire 
was laid by the side of his father, Mr. Bastow in the spot 
where many of his predecessors slept before him. 

124 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


125 


Mark had been greatly affected, not only by his own 
loss, but by the sight of the general grief among those 
for whom the Squire had done so much ; even Mr. 
Prendergast, who had taken part in many such func- 
tions over departed clients, was much moved by the 
scene. 

“ I have been at many funerals,” he said to Mark, as 
they walked back to the Hall, “ but I never have been 
at one that so affected me. No monument ever raised, 
sir, did such credit to him that was laid beneath as the 
tears of those simple villagers.” 

Mark did not reply ; his heart was altogether too full 
to speak. As they entered the house he said, “The 
ladies will have their lunch upstairs, Mr v Prender- 
gast ; we may as well have ours at once, and then you 
can call them down if there is any business to be 
done.” 

“ That will not take long,” the lawyer said. “ I have 
brought down the wills of both your uncle the colonel, 
and your father ; the former has never been read, and I 
think that it would be as well for me to read them both. 
That of your father is a very short and simple docu- 
ment, extending, indeed, only over a few lines. Your 
uncle’s is longer and more complicated, but as you are 
well aware of the gist of it, it will take us but a short 
time to get through it.” 

Mark took his meal in a perfunctory manner. For 
himself he would have eaten nothing, but he made an 
effort to do so in order to keep his guest company. 
When it was over he said, — 

“ We may as well go into the library at once, and I 


26 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


will send up for the ladies. It is as well to lose no 
time, for I know that you want to catch the afternoon 
coach up to town.” 

Mrs. Cunningham and Millicent joined them in a 
minute or two, the girl looking very pale in her deep 
mourning. 

“ I am about,” Mr. Prendergast said, quietly, “to read 
the wills of Colonel Thorndyke and Mr. John Thorn- 
dyke, and I will ask you, if there is any phrase that you 
do not understand, to stop me, and I will explain to 
you its purport.” 

The three persons present were acquainted with the 
main provisions of the colonel’s will. It began by 
stating that, being determined that his daughter Milli- 
cent Conyers Thorndyke, should not be married for her 
money, he hereby bequeathed to his brother, John 
Thorndyke, his estate in the parish of Crowswood, to 
be held by him until his daughter Millicent came to the 
age of twenty-one, or was married ; if that marriage 
did not take place until she was over the age of twenty- 
one, so long was it to continue in John Thorndyke’s 
possession, save and except that she was, on attaining 
the age of twenty-one, to receive from it an income of 
£ 2^0 a year for her private use and disposal. 

“To Jane Cunningham, the widow of the late Captain 
Charles Cunningham, of the Tenth Madras Native In- 
fantry, should she remain with my daughter until the 
marriage of the latter, I bequeath an annuity of £150 
per annum, chargeable on the estate, and to commence 
at my daughter’s marriage. All my other property in 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


127 


moneys, investments, jewels, and chattels of all sorts, is 
to be divided in equal portions between my daughter, 
Millicent Conyers Thorndyke, and my nephew, Mark 
Thorndyke. Should, however, my daughter die before 
marriage, I bequeath the said estate in the parish of 
Crowswood to my brother, John Thorndyke, for his life, 
and after him to his son Mark, and to the latter the 
whole of my other property of all kinds, this to take 
effect on the death of my daughter. Should my brother 
predecease the marriage or coming of age of my daugh- 
ter, she is at once to come into possession of the said 
estate of Crowswood. In which case my nephew, Mark, 
and Mr. James Prendergast, of the firm of Hopwood & 
Prendergast, my solicitors, are to act as her trustees, and 
Mrs. Jane Cunningham and the said James Prendergast 
as her guardians.” 

All this was, of course, expressed in the usual legal 
language, but the purport was clear to those previously 
acquainted with its bearing, the only item that was new 
to them being the legacy to Mrs. Cunningham. John 
Thorndyke’s testament was a short one. He left all his 
property to his son Mark, with the exception of ^100 
to his niece to buy a mourning ring or brooch or other 
ornament in memory of him, £50 to Mrs. Cunningham 
for a similar purpose, as a token of his great esteem 
for her character, and £200 to Ramoo for his faithful 
services to his brother and himself. 

When the lawyer had folded up the wills, Millicent 
said, — 

“ On my part, I have to say that I absolutely renounce 


128 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


the legacy of the estate in favour of my cousin Mark, 
who has always believed that it would be his.” 

“And I as absolutely refuse to accept,” Mark said. 

“ My dear young lady,” Mr. Prendergast said, quietly, 
“ at present, at any rate, you have no power whatever 
to take any action in the matter ; you are, in the eye of 
the law, an infant ; and until you come of age, you have 
no power to execute any legal document whatever. 
Therefore, you must, perforce, remain mistress of the 
estate until you attain the age of twenty-one. Many 
things may happen before that time ; for example, you 
might marry, and in that case your husband would have 
a voice in the matter ; you might die, in which case Mr. 
Mark Thorndyke would, without any effort on your part, 
come into possession of the estate ; but, at any rate, 
until you reach the age of twenty-one your trustees will 
collect the rents of the estate on your behalf, and will 
hold the moneys in trust for you, making, of course, such 
payments for your support and maintenance as are fit 
and proper for your condition.” 

The tears came into Millicent’s eyes as she resumed 
the seat from which she had risen, and she did not utter 
another word until Mr. Prendergast rose to leave. 

“She is thoroughly upset,” Mrs. Cunningham said, 
“ and it would be best to let her have her own way for 
a time. I think the sooner I can get her away from here 
the better. The house is full of sad memories, and I 
myself feel shaken and in need of a change.” 

“ I can quite understand her feeling and yours, Mrs. 
Cunningham. I do hope you will be able to disabuse 
her mind of the idea that I have any shadow of feeling 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


129 


of regret that she instead of I has the estate, and please 
try to work upon her on the ground of her father’s 
wishes. I could see that her face changed when Mr. 
Prendergast put the matter in that light, which I do not 
think had occurred to her before. I am thinking of 
going up to town in a couple of days ; I was thinking 
of doing so to-morrow, but a day or so will make no dif- 
ference. I propose that you both go with me, and that 
I then help you to look for a house. Even if you don’t 
get one at once, a week in London will be a change, and 
you can then, if you like, go somewhere for a time. Of 
course, Bath would be too gay at present, but you might 
go to Tunbridge Wells ; or, if she would like a sea-side 
place, as she has never been near the sea since she was 
a baby, that would be the greatest change for her. You 
might go down for a month or two to Dover or Hastings. 
There is no occasion for you to settle down in London 
for a time ; there is Weymouth, if you would like it 
better. I believe that that is a cheerful place without 
being too fashionable. ” 

Late in the afternoon Ramoo came in in his usual 
silent manner. The man had said but little during the 
past few days, but it was evident that he was grieving 
deeply, and he looked years older than he had done 
before that fatal night. 

“Of course, Ramoo, you will stay with me for the 
present. I hardly know what I shall be doing for a 
time, but I am sure that until I settle down Miss Con- 
yers will be very glad to have you with her.” 

“ No, sahib, Ramoo will return home to India ; Ramoo 
is getting old ; he was thirty when he entered the service 

9 


130 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


of the colonel, sahib ; he is forty-six now ; he will go 
home to end his days ; he has saved enough to live in 
comfort, and with what the lawyer sahib told him your 
father had left him, — £ 200 , — he will be a rich man 
among his own people.” 

“ But you will find things changed, Ramoo, since you 
left, while here, you know, we all regard you as a friend 
rather than as a servant” 

“You are all very kind and good, sahib. Ramoo 
knows that he will meet no friends like those he has 
here, but he longs for the bright sun and blue sky of 
India, and though it will well-nigh break his heart to 
leave the young missie and you, he feels that he must 
go.” 

“All right, Ramoo ; we shall all be very sorry to lose 
you, but I understand your longing to go home, and I 
know that you always feel our cold winter to be very 
trying to you, therefore I will not oppose your wishes. 
I shall be going up to town in two or three days, and 
will arrange to pay your legacy at once, and will enquire 
what vessels are sailing.” 

Although not inclined at the present time to agree 
with Mark in anything, Millicent could not but acknow- 
ledge that it were best that Ramoo should not be urged 
further to reconsider his determination, and she also fell 
in with his proposal that they should go up to Lon- 
don for a week and then go down to Weymouth for a 
time, after which they would be guided by circum- 
stances. 

Accordingly, two days later, Mark drove Millicent 
and Mrs. Cunningham up to London. A groom ac- 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


131 

companied them on Mark’s favourite horse. This was 
to be left in town for his use, and the groom was to 
drive the carriage back again. Comfortable room^ 
were obtained in a quiet inn for the ladies, while Mark 
put up at the Bull, saying that he would come every 
day to take them out. 

Till within the last year Millicent had been little more 
than a child ; she had looked up to Mark as she might 
have done to a big brother, something most admirable, 
as one whose dictum was law. During the last year 
there had been some slight change, but more perhaps 
on Mark’s part than on hers. He had consulted her 
wishes more, had asked instead of ordered, and had 
begun to treat her as if conscious that she was fast 
growing up into womanhood. 

Millicent herself scarcely seemed to have noticed this 
change. She was little more inclined to assert herself 
than before, but was ready to accompany him whenever 
he wished her to do so, or to see him go away without 
complaint when it so pleased him ; but the last week 
had made a rapid change in their positions. Millicent 
had sprung almost at a bound into a young woman. 
She had come to think and resolve for herself; she was 
becoming wayward and fanciful ; she no longer deferred 
to Mark’s opinion, but held her own, and was capable 
of being vexed at his decisions. At any rate, her rela- 
tions with Mark had changed rapidly, and Mrs. Cunning- 
ham considered this little outburst of pettishness to be 
a good omen for her hopes, and very much better than 
if they had continued on their old footing of affection- 
ate cousins. 


132 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


Mark went to the lawyer’s and had a long talk with 
Mr. Prendergast over the lost treasure. On leaving the 
lawyer’s, he went to Bow Street, and related to the chief 
the circumstances attending his father’s murder. 

“ I have heard them from the man I sent down at 
your request, Mr. Thorndyke, and, taking the attempt 
early in the evening and the subsequent murder, there 
can be no doubt that the affair was one of revenge and 
not of robbery. Had the second attempt stood alone, 
robbery might have been the object ; the mere fact that 
nothing was stolen in no way alters the case. Men are 
often seized with a certain panic after committing a 
murder, and fly at once without attempting to carry 
out their original purpose. Your father no doubt fell 
heavily, and the man might well have feared that the 
fall would be heard, but the previous attempt precludes 
the supposition that robbery was at the bottom of it. 
It points to a case of revenge, and certainly goes a veiy 
long way to support the theory that we talked over 
when I last saw you, that the highwayman who en- 
deavoured to stop you on the road, whom you wounded, 
and who afterwards went down to Southampton, was 
the escaped convict, Bastow. Since that time I have 
had a man making enquiries along the road between 
Reigate and Kingston, but altogether without success. 
I should be glad to follow up any other line that you 
might suggest, and that might offer any reasonable 
possibility of success, but I must own that at present 
we are entirely off the scent.” 

“I am thinking of devoting myself entirely to the 
quest. I have no occupation at present. I have an 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


133 


income amply sufficient for my wants, with all expenses 
that I may incur, and I intend to devote, if necessary, 
some years of my life to hunting this man down. As 
your men have searched without success in the country, I 
think for the present my best plan will be to devote my- 
self to learning something of the ways and haunts of the 
criminal classes of London, and it is with that object that 
I have come to you now. I should like, for some time, at 
any rate, to enter the detective force as an enrolled mem- 
ber. I should, of course, require no pay, but would be 
prepared to obey all orders and to do any work required, 
as any other member of the corps would do. I am 
strong, active, and have, I hope, a fair share of intelli- 
gence. I should not mind risking my life in carrying 
out any duty that you might assign to me. I presume 
that I need not always be on duty, and could, when not 
required, employ my time as I liked, and keep up my 
acquaintances in town. Should it be otherwise, how- 
ever, I am perfectly ready to submit myself in all re- 
spects to your rule. I have a first-rate horse, and would 
be available for country duty, wherever you might think 
fit to send me. I should not desire any distinction to 
be made between me and the paid officers.” 

“ Your proposal is an altogether novel one, Mr. Thorn- 
dyke, but it is worthy of consideration. I have no doubt 
that you would make a very useful officer ; the work is 
certainly interesting, though not without serious hazards ; 
however, I will think the matter over, and if you will call 
in to-morrow you shall have my answer. We are always 
glad to have a new hand in the force, for the faces of 
our men are so well known among the criminal class that 


134 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


they are liable to be detected even under the cleverest 
disguises. There is work, too, upon which it is abso- 
lutely necessary that a gentleman should be employed, 
and in the event of your joining us, I should wish you 
to keep the matter strictly from all your acquaintances ; 
and it would certainly be advantageous that you should, 
when disengaged, continue to mix with your friends and 
to mingle in society of all kinds as freely as possible. 
There is crime among the upper classes as well as among 
the lower, though of a different type, and as Mr. Thorn- 
dyke, of Crowswood, you would have far better oppor- 
tunities of investigating some of these cases than any of 
my men would have. You would not object to take up 
such cases ?’ ’ 

“ Not at all, sir ; that is, if it could be arranged that 
I should not do the actual arresting or have to appear in 
court as a witness.” 

“That could be managed,” the chief said. “When 
you have got to a certain point the matter of the final 
arrest could always be handed over to someone else, but, 
as a rule, we keep our officers in the background as 
much as possible, because at every trial the court is half- 
full of men of the criminal class, and the faces of our 
men would soon be known by every one of them. Well, 
if you will call about ten o’clock you shall have my an- 
swer ; but I should advise you to think the matter well 
over before you see me again. The responsibilities as 
well as the dangers are great, and, indeed, through some 
of the work you would literally have to carry your life 
in your hand, and I can assure you that the task you 
undertake is by no means a light one.” 



CHAPTER X. 

M ARK called that evening, as he had promised, 
upon Mrs. Cunningham. 

“ I hope that you feel all the better for your 
day’s rest, Millicent,” he said. 

The girl looked quickly at him to see if there was any 
sarcasm in the question, but it was evident that the en- 
quiry was made in earnest. 

“Yes, I feel better now,” she said. “ I have dozed 
a good deal to-day. I did not feel up to anything. 
Mrs. Cunningham’s work has progressed wonderfully. 
I should say that she has done more to-day than she 
ordinarily finds time to do in a week. What have you 
been doing with yourself?” 

“ I have been having a long talk with Mr. Prendergast 
about the lost treasure.” 

“ And, of course, he said that you would never find it, 
Mark?” 

“Well, yes, he distinctly expressed that opinion.” 
“And afterwards?” 


i35 


136 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“Afterwards I went to Bow Street and had a long 
talk also with the chief officer there.” 

“ I don’t like the idea of your searching for this man, 
Mark. In the first place, I don’t see why you should 
hope to succeed when the men whose business it is to 
do such work have failed. In the next place, I think 
that you may get into serious danger.” 

“That I must risk, Millicent. I have already proved 
a better shot than he is, and I am quite ready to take 
my chance if I can but come upon him ; that is the dif- 
ficult part of the matter. I know that I shall need pa- 
tience, but I have plenty of time before me, and have 
great hopes that I shall run him to earth at last.” 

“ But you would not know him if you saw him ?” 

“ I think I should,” Mark said, quietly ; “at least if 
he is the man I suspect.” 

“ Then you do suspect someone,” Mrs. Cunningham 
said, laying down her work. 

“ Yes. I know of no reason why you should not know 
it now. I suspect, indeed, I feel morally certain, that the 
man who murdered my father was Arthur Bastow.” 

An exclamation of surprise broke from both his hear- 
ers, and they listened with horror while he detailed the 
various grounds that he had for his suspicions. They 
were silent for some time after he had brought his nar- 
rative to a conclusion, then Mrs. Cunningham said, — 

“What a merciful release for Mr. Bastow that he 
should have died before this terrible thing came out ! 
For after what you have told us I can hardly doubt that 
you are right, and that it is this wicked man who is 
guilty.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


3 7 


“Yes, it was indeed providential,” Mark said. “I 
think that, feeble as he had been for some months, it 
might have been kept from him. Still, a word from a 
chance visitor, who did not associate Bastow the mur- 
derer with our dear old friend, might have enlightened 
him, and the blow would have been a terrible one in- 
deed. It is true that as it was he died from the shock, 
but he did not know the hand that had struck the blow.” 

“ Now that you have told me this,” Millicent said, “ I 
cannot blame you, Mark, for determining to hunt the 
man down. It seems even worse than it did before ; it 
is awful to think that anyone could cherish revenge like 
that. Now tell me how you are going to set about it.” 

“ I have promised the chief officer that I will tell ab- 
solutely no one,” he said. “ I have a plan, and I be- 
lieve that in time it must be successful. I know well 
enough that I could tell you both of it without any fear 
of its going farther, but he asked me to promise, and I 
did so without reservation ; moreover, I think that for 
some reasons it is as well that even you should not know 
it. As it is, you are aware that I am going to try, and 
that is all. If I were to tell you how, you might be pic- 
turing all sorts of imaginary dangers and worrying your- 
selves over it, so I think that it will be much the best that 
you should remain in ignorance, at any rate, for a time. 
I can say this : that I shall for the present remain princi- 
pally in London, and I think that I am more likely to 
come upon a clue here than elsewhere.” 

The next morning the chief of the detective depart- 
ment told Mark that he had decided to accept his 
offer. 


38 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“As you will receive no pay,” he said, “ I shall regard 
you as a sort of volunteer. For the first two or three 
months you will spend your time in going about with 
one or other of my men on his work. They will be 
able to put you up to disguises. When you have once 
learned to know all the thieves’ quarters and the most 
notorious receivers of stolen goods, you will be able to 
go about your work on your own account All that I 
require is that you shall report yourself here twice a day. 
Should I have on hand any business for which you may 
appear to me particularly well suited, I shall request you 
to at once undertake it, and from time to time, when 
there is a good deal of business on hand, I may get you 
to aid one of my men who may require an assistant in 
the job on which he is engaged.” 

“I am sure I am very much obliged to you, sir,” 
Mark said, “ and will, I can assure you, do my best in 
every way to assist your men in any business in which 
they may be engaged.” 

“When will you begin?” 

“ It is Saturday to-day, sir. I think I will postpone 
setting to until Monday week. My cousin and the 
lady in whose charge she is came up with me on 
Thursday, and will be leaving town the end of next 
week, and I should wish to escort them about while 
here. I will come on Monday morning ready for 
work. How had I better be dressed ?” 

“ I should say as a countryman. A convenient char- 
acter for you to begin with will be that of a man who, 
having got into a poaching fray and hurt a game-keeper, 
has made for London as the best hiding-place. You 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


139 

will be quite uncertain about your future movements, 
but you are thinking of enlisting.” 

“ Very well, sir ; I will get the constable at Reigate, 
who knows me well, to send me a suit. I might find it 
difficult to get all the things I want here.” 

Accordingly, for the next week, Mark devoted him- 
self to the ladies. Millicent, in her interest in the 
work that he was about to undertake, had now quite 
got over her fit of ill-temper, and the old cordial rela- 
tions were renewed. On Friday he saw them into the 
Weymouth coach, then sauntered off to his friend Chet- 
wynd’s lodgings. Ramoo had already sailed. On his 
arrival in town he had said that he should, if possible, 
arrange to go out as a steward. 

“ Many men of my colour who have come over here 
with their masters go back in that way,” he said, in 
answer to Mark’s remonstrances. “ It is much more 
comfortable that way than as a passenger. If you go 
third class, rough fellows laugh and mock ; if you go 
second class, men look as much as to say, ‘What is 
that coloured fellow doing here ? This is no place for 
him.’ Much better go as steward ; not veiy hard work ; 
very comfortable ; plenty to eat ; no one to laugh or 
make fun.” 

“Well, perhaps it would be best, when one comes to 
think of it, Ramoo ; but I would gladly pay your pas- 
sage in any class you like.” 

“Ramoo go his own way, sahib,” he said. “No 
pay passage money ; me go to docks where boats are 
sailing, go on board and see head steward. Head 
steward glad enough to take good servant who is will- 


140 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


ing to work his way out, and ask for no wages. Head 
steward draw wages for him and put wages in his own 
pocket He very well satisfied.” 

On Wednesday he came and told Mark that he had 
arranged to sail in the “ Nabob,” and was to go on 
board early the next morning. He seemed a great 
deal affected, and Mark and Millicent were equally 
sorry to part with the faithful fellow. 

“Well, old fellow,” Dick Chetwynd said, when Mark 
entered the room, where he was still at breakfast, “ I 
was beginning to wonder whether you had gone back 
to Reigate again. Why, when I saw you last Friday 
you told me that you would look me up in a day or 
two.” 

“ I have been busy showing London to Mrs. Cun- 
ningham and Miss Conyers,” he replied, — for Millicent 
had insisted on keeping her former name, at any rate 
for the present, — and Mark was somewhat glad that 
there had been no necessity for entering into any ex- 
planation. It was agreed that when he went down to 
discharge some of the servants and called upon his 
friends he should say nothing of the change in his 
position, but should assign as a motive that he intended 
to travel about for a long time, and that he felt that he 
could not settle down in the lonely house, at any rate, 
for two or three years, and therefore intended to dimin- 
ish the establishment. 

“You will have some breakfast, Mark?” 

“No, thank you. I breakfasted two hours ago.” 

“Then you still keep to your intention to stay in 
London for a while ?” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


141 

“Yes. I don’t feel that I could bear the house 
alone,” Mark replied. “You see, Mrs. Cunningham 
and my uncle’s ward could not very well remain in a 
bachelor’s home, and naturally, after what has happened, 
they would not like to do so even if they could. They 
have gone down to Weymouth for a few weeks for a 
complete change ; and Mrs. Cunningham talks of taking 
a house in town till they return to Crowswood. I am 
going to look for lodgings, and I want your advice as to 
the quarter likely to suit me.” 

“Why not take up your abode here for a time? 
There is a vacant room, and I should be very glad to 
have you with me.” 

“ Thank you very much, Dick, but for a time I should 
prefer being alone. You will have friends dropping in 
to see you, and at present I should be poor company. 
It will be some little time before I sjiiall feel equal to 
society.” 

“Of course, Mark. I always speak first and think 
afterwards, as you know pretty well by this time. Well, 
what sort of lodgings do you want?” 

“ I want them to be in a good but not in a thoroughly 
fashionable street. In time, no doubt, I shall like a little 
society, and shall get you to introduce me to some of the 
quieter of your friends, and so gradually feel my way.” 

“ I will do all that sort of thing for you, Mark. As 
you know, I’m not one of those who see much fun in 
gambling or drinking, though one must play a little to 
be in the fashion. Still, I never go heavily into it. I 
risk a few guineas and then leave it. My own inclina- 
tions lie rather towards sport, and in this I can indulge 


142 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


without being out of the fashion. All the tip-top people 
now patronise the ring, and I do so in my small way too. 
I am on good terms with all the principal prize-fighters, 
and put on the gloves with one or other of them pretty 
nearly every day. I have taken a course of lessons 
regularly from four or five of them, and I can tell you 
that I can hold my own with most of the Corinthians. 
It is a grand sport, and I don’t know how I should get 
on without it ; after the hard exercise I was accustomed 
to down in the country, it keeps one’s muscles in splen- 
did order ; and I can tell you that, if one happens to get 
into a fight in the streets, it is no light thing to be able 
to polish off an antagonist in a round or two without 
getting a mark on your face that would keep you a pris- 
oner in your room for a week or more.” 

‘‘Yes, I should like very much to take lessons too, 
Dick ; it is one of the things that I have always wished 
to do. I suppose one can do it of an evening or any 
time you like ?” 

“Yes; any hour suits those fellows. You ought to 
get either a heavy middle weight or a light heavy 
weight ; you will be a heavy weight yourself by the 
time you have filled out. Let me think ; what is your 
height? — six feet one, if I remember rightly.” 

“Yes, that is about it.” 

“Well, with your shoulders and long reach and 
activity, you ought to be something out of the way if 
you take pains, Mark. You see I am barely five feet ten, 
and am something like two stone lighter than you are, 
and I only just come into the middle weights. I sup- 
pose you are not much under twelve stone and a half.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


143 

“That is just about my weight; I weighed at the 
miller’s only a fortnight ago.” 

‘ ‘ Good ! I will make some enquiries, and see who 
would be the best man to take you in hand to begin 
with. And now about lodgings. Well, I should say 
Essex Street or any of those streets running down from 
the Strand would suit you. The rooms in Essex Street 
are bigger than those in Buckingham Street, and you 
will find anything between the two in some of the 
others ; but I may as well saunter round there with you. 
Of course, money is no object to you.” 

“No,” Mark agreed, “but I don’t want big rooms. 
I think a small one, when you are sitting by yourself, is 
more cosey and comfortable.” 

Finally, two rooms were taken in Villiers Street ; they 
were of moderate size and handsomely furnished, the 
last tenant having fitted them out for himself, but had 
lived to enjoy them only three months, having at the 
end of that time been killed in a duel over a quarrel at 
cards. 

“ I have to make some calls this afternoon, Mark. 
At seven this evening I will look in at your lodgings, 
and you shall go along with me to Ingleston’s, in St 
Giles’s. It is one of the head-quarters of the fancy, 
and Jack Needham, who taught me, is safe to be there, 
and he will tell me who he thinks is best for you to 
begin with.” 

Accordingly, after taking luncheon, they separated, 
and Mark went to his inn. 

Ingleston’s was at that time regarded as the head- 
quarters of the fancy. At the back of the house was 


44 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


a large room, with benches rising behind each other to 
accommodate the spectators. Here, on the evenings 
when it was known that leading men would put on the 
gloves, peers of the realm would sit side by side with 
sporting butchers, and men of fashion back their opinion 
on a coming prize fight with ex-pugilists and publicans. 
A number of men were assembled in the bar ; among 
these was Jack Needham. 

“Good evening, Mr. Chetwynd,” the man said, as 
they came up to him. “ It is going to be a good night. 
Tring and Bob Pratt are going to have a round or two 
together, and Gibbons will put on the gloves with any- 
one who likes to take him on.” 

“This gentleman is Mr. Thorndyke, a squire, Jack, 
whose place is near mine at Reigate. He has come up 
to town for a few months, and wants to learn how to 
use his mauleys. I told him that you would advise 
him as to who would be the best man for him to go to.” 

“ I can tell you better when I have seen him strip, sir. 
There is no one in the big room at present. It won’t be 
open for half an hour. Ingleston keeps it shut as long 
as he can so as to give everyone a fair chance of a good 
place. If the gentleman will come in there with me I 
will have a look at him.” 

Mark expressed his willingness to be looked at, and 
the man having gone and got the key of the room from 
Ingleston, went in with them and locked the door be- 
hind. 

“Now, sir, if you will strip to the waist I shall be 
better able to say who you had better have than I can 
now.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


145 

Mark stripped, and the man walked round and round 
him, examining him critically. 

“ He’s a big ’un,” he said to Dick when he had com- 
pleted his examination. “ He has got plenty of muscle 
and frame, and ought to be a tremendous hitter ; he is 
about the figure of Gibbons, and if he goes in for it 
really, ought to make well-nigh as good a man, if not 
quite. I don’t think Bill would care about taking him 
up till he knows a bit about it. I tell you what, sir, 
you will be too big altogether for me by the time you 
get to be quick on your legs and to use your strength, 
but if you like I will take you on for a month or so, or, 
say, two months ; by that time I think you will be good 
enough to go to Gibbons. I will just call him in if you 
don’t mind ; he came in just before you.” 

In a couple of minutes he came in with a man of 
similar height and somewhat similar figure to Mark. 

“ This is Gibbons, sir, ex-champion, and like enough 
he might be champion now if he chose ; as fine a boxer 
as ever stripped, but he is ring-maker now to the P. C., 
and it suits him better to do that and to teach, than 
to have a chance of getting a battle once a year or so.” 

“ Have you a great many pupils, Gibbons ?” 

The man shook his head. 

“ I am too big, sir ; gentleman like to learn from some 
one about their own weight, or perhaps a bit lighter, and 
there are not many of them who would care to stand up 
against a man who has been champion, and so I have 
plenty of time on my hands. I am a hard hitter, too, even 
with the gloves ; that is one reason why Jack had best take 
you on until you get a little handy with your fists. I do 

10 


146 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


more in the dog fancier line than I do with boxing, but 
there is nothing I like better than getting the gloves on 
with an amateur who is likely to be a credit to me. 
That is my card, sir ; you will find me in pretty nearly 
any time of the day, and I have got a place behind the 
house where I do teaching when I get a chance. It is 
handy in one way, because you can drop in and take a 
lesson any time you like.” 

“That would suit me exceedingly well,” Mark said ; 
“ and when I have a couple of months with Needham I 
will come to you.” 

Mark now put on his clothes again, and they went out 
together and re-entered a few minutes later when the 
door was open. The benches were soon crowded. 
Mark had been to several prize-fights with Dick Chet- 
wynd, had often boxed with him and other lads, and had 
had lessons from an ex-prize-fighter at Reigate, and was 
therefore able to appreciate the science shown by the 
various men who confronted each other. The event of 
the evening was the contest between Tring and Bob 
Pratt ; both were very powerful men, who were about to 
go into strict training for matches that had been made 
for them against two west countrymen, who were thought 
very highly of by their friends, and who were regarded 
as possible candidates for the championship. 

Bob Pratt was a stone heavier than his opponent, but 
far less active, and owed his position more to his ability 
to take punishment, and to hard-hitting powers, than to 
his science. In the two rounds that were fought, Tring 
had the advantage, but the general opinion was that in 
the long run the other would wear him down. Both 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 147 

fought with good temper, and were warmly applauded 
as they shook hands at the finish. 

“ I think I should back Tring in a fight,” Mark said, 
as the meeting broke up, “ but it is difficult to say, for 
he is in better condition than the other, and it may be 
that when both are thoroughly fit the heavy man might 
show more improvement than he would.” 

The hat was passed round at the conclusion. Every 
man dropped in his guinea, some more, it being under- 
stood that the collection was to be divided between the 
two men to pay the expenses of their training. 



CHAPTER XI. 

T HREE or four days later Mark received a message 
that the chief wanted to speak with him that after- 
noon, and he accordingly went down. 

“I’ve got a job for you, Mr. Thorndyke ; it is just the 
sort of thing that will suit you. There is a house in 
Buckingham Street that we have had our eye on for 
some time ; it is a gambling-house, but with that we 
have nothing to do unless complaints are made, but we 
have had several complaints of late. It is a well-got-up 
place, and there are a good many men of title frequent 
it, but men of title are not always more honest than 
other people ; anyhow, there are some rooks there, and 
several young fellows of means have been pigeoned and 
ruined. They are mighty particular who they let in, 
and there would be very little chance of getting my reg- 
ular men in there. Now, you are a stranger in London, 
but you have friends here, and no doubt you could get 
introduced. We want to know if the play is fair ; if it 
isn’t, we would break the place up altogether. We 
148 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


149 


know enough to do it now ; but none of the poor beg- 
gars who have been ruined will come forward, and, in- 
deed, haven’t any idea, I think, that they have lost their 
money in anything but a run of bad luck. 

“ One young fellow blew his brains out last week, and 
his father came here with a lot of what are called debts 
of honour, which he found in his room. There they are, 
and the names of the men they are owed to; of course, 
some of them have been fairly won, but I have a strong 
suspicion that those I have marked with a cross have 
not. For instance, there is Sir William Flash, a fellow 
who was turned out of White’s two years ago for sharp 
practice with cards ; there is John Emerson : he is a man 
of good family, but all his friends have given him up 
long ago, and he has been living by his wits for the last 
five years. The others marked are all of the same sort. 
Now, what I want you to do is to become a frequenter 
of the place ; of course, you will have to play a little, 
and as you are a stranger I expect that they will let you 
win for a bit ; but if not, the old gentleman has placed 
£200 in my hands for the expenses.” 

“ I could play on my own money,” Mark said, rather 
warmly. 

“You forget, Mr. Thorndvke,” the chief said, firmly, 
“ that at the present moment you are a member of my 
force, and that you go to this place in that capacity, and 
not as Squire of Crowswood ; therefore, you must, if 
you please, do as I instruct you. The gentleman will 
be ready to pay that sum. As you see, the amounts 
entered here total up to nearly ^10,000. He said that 
it will ruin him to pay that sum, but that he must do so 


50 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


rather than his son should be branded as a defaulter. I 
have advised him to write to all these people saying that 
it will take him some time to raise the money, but that 
he will see that nobody shall be a loser by his son’s 
debts. I have told him that I will in the meantime 
endeavour to get proof that the play was not fair, and 
in that case he would, of course, refuse to pay any of 
the claims on that ground ; and you may be sure that if 
unfair play were proved, none of those concerned would 
dare to press their claims.” 

“Then my function would be simply to watch ?” 

“Yes, to watch, and to bring me word of anything 
you may observe. You see, without making a public 
scandal, if it could be found that a man was discovered 
cheating, and the way in which he was doing it, one 
would be able to put a stronger pressure on him, that 
not only might he be forced to abstain from going to 
any club, but would be frightened into giving up any 
I.O.U.’s he might hold.” 

“ I shall be glad to do the best I can, sir ; but, 
frankly, I know next to nothing of cards, and should 
have but little chance of detecting anything that might 
be going on, when it must be done so cleverly that 
experienced gamblers, watching a man closely, fail to 
see anything wrong.” 

“ I quite understand that, but one of my men has 
made a study of the various methods employed by 
gamblers to cheat, and although it would take you 
years to learn how to do it yourself, a few hours’ instruc- 
tion from him would at least put you up to some of their 
methods, and enable you to know where to look for 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


151 

cheating. The man is now waiting in the next room, 
and if .you will take two or three hours daily with him, 
say for a week, you ought to be able to detect the 
doings of those fellows when to others everything seems 
right and above board. You may have no inclination 
for cards, but knowledge of that sort is useful to any- 
one in society, here or anywhere else, and may enable 
him either to save his own pocket or to do a service to 
a friend.” 

In the course of a week’s practice Mark learned where 
to look for cheating ; he could not, indeed, follow the 
fingers of his instructor, for even when he knew what 
was going to be done, the movements were so rapid 
that his eye could not follow it, and in nine cases out of 
ten he was unable to say whether the coup had been 
accomplished or not. 

The week’s instruction was lengthened to a fort- 
night, and at the end of that time Mark went to Dick 
Chetwynd. 

“Do you know, Dick,” he said, “a gambling-place 
in Buckingham Street?” 

“ I know that there is a hell there, Mark, but I have 
never been in it ; why do you ask ?” 

“ I have rather a fancy to go there,” he replied. “ I 
hear that although a good many men of fashion haunt 
the place, the crowd is rather a mixed one.” 

“ It has a bad name, Mark ; I have heard some queer 
reports about it.” 

“ Yes, so have I. I should think that it is a very 
likely place for a man like Bastow to go to if he has 
any liking for play. Of course, he would get up as a 


52 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


gentleman. At any rate, I have been making what en- 
quiries I can in some of the thieves’ quarters, and have 
come to the conclusion that he is not likely to have 
taken up his abode there, and I don’t think I can do 
better than make a round of some of these doubtful 
houses. I should like to begin with this and then work 
downward.” 

“ Well, I daresay I could manage it, Mark ; I know 
half a dozen men who play there ; they say there is 
more fun and excitement to be got than at White’s or 
Crockford’s, or any of those places ; some men, of 
course, play high, but a good many who go there only 
risk a few guineas ; some go because it is the proper 
thing at present for a man about town either to play or 
to bet on horses or cock-fights, or to patronise the ring, 
and, after all, it is easier to stroll for an hour or two of 
an evening into comfortable rooms where you meet a 
lively set and there is champagne always going, than it 
is to attend races or prize-fights.” 

There were few days that passed that Mark did 
not go in for half an hour’s chat with his friend, and 
two days after this conversation Dick said, — 

“ By the way, Mark, I have arranged for us to go to 
that hell to-night ; young Boldero, who is a member of 
my club, told me some time ago that he played there 
sometimes. I met him yesterday evening, and said that 
I had a fancy to go and have a look at it, and that a 
friend of mine from the country also wanted to go ; he 
said at once that he would take us there.” 

Accordingly, that evening Mark met Boldero, whom 
he had once or twice before seen in Dick’s company, 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


153 


and the three went together to the house in Bucking- 
ham Street. Boldero nodded to the door-keeper as he 
went in, and they then proceeded upstairs and entered 
a handsome room with comfortable sofas and chairs on 
which a dozen men were seated, for the most part 
smoking. Several champagne bottles stood on the 
tables, and all who liked helped themselves. Boldero 
was known to several of those present, while two or 
three were also known to Dick. Boldero introduced 
them both to his friends. One of these was the Hon. 
John Emerson, a man of some five and thirty, with a 
lanquid air and a slight drawl. 

After chatting for a few minutes Mark went with his 
two companions upstairs. The room they now entered 
was furnished as a drawing-room, except that in the 
middle was a table, round which some fifteen people 
were seated, while as many more looked on ; round the 
room were several small tables on which were packs of 
cards. These were for those who preferred to play 
piquet or ecarte, two or three couples being so engaged. 
Mark knew enough of cards to know that hazard was 
being played at the large table. There was an inner 
room, and Mark strolled across and looked in. It was 
at present untenanted ; it contained a centre-table 
capable of accommodating four, and two or three small 
ones, with two chairs set in readiness to each. 

“That is where the heavy play goes on,” Boldero 
said ; “ none of your four- or five-guinea wagers there, 
fifties and hundreds are nearer the mark, and I have 
seen a thousand wagered many a time. It is exciting 
work even looking on, I can tell you ; what it must be 


154 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


for the players I cannot say, but I should think it must 
be frightful.” 

Mark took up his stand at the hazard table, and 
after looking on for some little time began to play. 
Beginning with guineas he gradually, as luck favoured 
him, played five guineas, and after half an hour’s play 
won fifty. Then luck turned, and in a few minutes he 
had lost all he won. 

“ You ought to have stopped, Mark,” Dick said, 
reproachfully, as he stepped back from his place, which 
was at once filled by one who had been standing behind 
him. 

The play in the inner room had now begun, and 
Mark went in and joined those who were looking on. 
In half an hour one of the players had had enough, 
and a young man said to Emerson, who was standing 
on the other side of the table, — 

“Now, Mr. Emerson, will you give me my revenge?” 

“ I would really rather not, Mr. Cotter. The luck 
has been so one-sided lately that I would rather leave 
it alone.” 

“ But it may turn to-night,” the other said. “ At 
any rate, I will try it if you have no objection.” 

There was a certain eagerness in the young man’s 
voice that caused Mark to watch him closely. He was 
a good-looking young fellow, but his face was not a 
strong one, and although he evidently tried to assume 
an appearance of indifference as he sat down, there was 
a nervous movement of his fingers. Mark took his 
place behind him as play began. The game was ecarte, 
and for a time Emerson lost. 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


55 


“ I think the luck has changed, Mr. Cotter, but as we 
generally raise the stakes after playing for a bit, I am 
ready to do so. Shall we make it £50 again ?” 

“ With pleasure,” the young man said. 

He won the next two games, then for some time they 
won alternately. 

“Shall we say a hundred again ?” he said. 

“As you like,” Emerson replied. “We don’t seem 
to get much forwarder either way at present.” 

A considerable number of lookers-on had now gath- 
ered round. So far Mark, although watching the fingers 
of the opposite player intently, had seen no sign what- 
ever of unfair play. He now redoubled his attention. 
Cotter won the first game, his adversary the three next. 
Mark noticed now that after looking at his hand Emer- 
son looked abstractedly as if meditating before taking 
the next step ; there was no expression in his face, but 
Mark fancied that his eyes rested for a moment on the 
man standing next to himself. He looked at his watch, 
and then, as if finding the hour later than he had ex- 
pected, moved away from his place and presently joined 
Dick, who was standing with Boldero on the other side 
of the table. 

“Who is the man playing with Emerson?” he asked, 
in a whisper. 

“ He is the son of Cotter, the head of Cotter’s Bank, 
in Lombard Street.” 

As the men were standing two or three deep round 
the table, Mark could not see the table itself, but this 
mattered little, for his attention was entirely directed 
towards the man standing behind Cotter’s chair. He 


156 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


saw that after glancing down at the young man’s hand, 
he looked across as if seeing what Emerson was going to 
do ; sometimes his eyes dropped for an instant, at other 
times there was no such movement, and after noticing 
this four or five times, and noticing the course Emerson 
took, he had no doubt whatever in his own mind that 
the movement of the man’s eyes was an intimation to 
Emerson of the nature of Cotter’s hand. The young 
man had lost four games in succession ; he had grown 
very pale, but showed no other signs of agitation. Pres- 
ently he said, — 

“You have your usual luck again ; I will only play 
one more game to-night, but we may as well make it 
worth playing. Shall we say five hundred ?” 

“At your service,” Emerson replied. 

This time the face of the man standing behind Cotter’s 
chair was immovable, and Mark, placing himself behind 
a short man and straining his head forward, sa*w that 
Cotter scored four. The next time there was still no 
sign. Emerson showed a king and scored it, and then 
won every trick and the game. 

“That makes £ 900 ” the young man said, quietly, 
writing an I.O.U. for that amount and handing it to 
Emerson. There was a general movement of the spec- 
tators, and two fresh players took the seats vacated by 
the late antagonists. 

“Who was the man standing behind Cotter’s chair?” 
Mark asked Boldero. 

“That is Sir James Flash ; he is just going to play, 
you see ; it is sure to be another hot game, and an in- 
teresting one.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


157 


“Well, I think I will go,” Mark said ; “the heat of 
the room has given me a bit of a headache. I will see 
you to-morrow, Dick.” 

“Good-night old man,” Chetwynd said, and, shaking 
hands with Boldero, Mark went downstairs immediately 
after Cotter. The latter went into the room below, 
drank off a tumbler of champagne, and then went down, 
took his hat, and went out. Mark followed him for a 
short distance, and joined him as soon as he got up 
into the Strand. 

“Mr. Cotter,” he said, “I have not the pleasure of 
knowing you personally, and I must introduce myself. 
My name is Mark Thorndyke, and I am the owner of an 
estate close to Reigate ; would you mind my exchanging 
a few words with you ?” 

Cotter looked up, and was about to give a flat refusal, 
but the expression of Mark’s face was so friendly and 
pleasant that he changed his mind and said, in a hard 
voice, — 

“ I really do not know what you can have to say to 
me, Mr. Thorndyke, but of course I can hardly refuse 
to hear you.” 

They walked across the road and turned up a quiet 
street. 

“ For certain reasons it is not necessary for me to ex- 
plain,” Mark said. “ I went to that place for the first 
time to-night, and I watched the play between you and 
Mr. Emerson.” 

“ It does not matter, sir. I lost, and I am not going 
there again.” 

“ I hope, on the contrary, that you will go there again, 


158 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


Mr. Cotter ; if I mistake not, from what I heard, you 
have lost considerable sums to that man/’ 

“ I imagine, sir, that that is no business of a stranger.” 

“ In no way personally,” Mark replied, not heeding 
the angry ring in the voice, “ but as an honest man it 
does concern me. I am absolutely convinced, sir, that 
that money has not been won from you fairly.” 

The young man gave a start. 

“ Impossible,” he said, shortly. “ Mr. Emerson is a 
man of good family and a gentleman.” 

“ He is a man of good family, I admit, but certainly 
not a gentleman ; his antecedents are notorious.” 

“ I have never heard a word against him ; he is 
intimate with Sir James Flash and other gentlemen of 
position.” 

“ I am not surprised that you have not heard of it ; it 
was probably to the interest of several persons that you 
should not do so. Nor do I suppose that you are aware 
that Sir James Flash was himself expelled from White’s 
for cheating at cards.” 

“ Impossible !” Mr. Cotter replied. 

“I can assure you of the fact,” Mark said, quietly. 
“ Probably you have among your acquaintances some 
members of White’s. I am sure if you ask them they 
will confirm the fact. Now, sir, I can assure you that I 
have no interest in this matter save to prevent a gentle- 
man from being ruined by blacklegs. May I ask how 
much you owe to Mr. Emerson and Sir James Flash?” 

The young man hesitated. 

“I believe you, sir,” he said, at last. “They hold my 
I.O.U.’s for £ 29 , 000 . I need hardly say it is absolute 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


159 


ruin. My intention is to make a clean breast to my 
father about it to-morrow morning. My father will give 
me the money, in the first place, because he loves me, 
and would save my name from disgrace ; and, in the 
second, because were I posted as a defaulter it would 
strike a severe blow at the credit of the bank. So he 
will give me the money, but he will bid me leave his 
house for ever. That will matter little, for I shall pay 
the money and to-morrow night I shall blow out my 
brains.” 

“Well, sir, if you will follow my advice you will 
neither pay the money nor blow out your brains. I 
saw enough to-night to feel absolutely certain that you 
have been cheated. Sir James Flash stood behind you, 
and was, I am sure, signalling your hand to Emerson. 
I believe that Emerson played fair otherwise until the 
last game, but I am convinced that he then cheated. 
You had good hands, but he had better ; and although 
I did not see him cheat — for I was on the other side of 
the table — I am convinced that he did so. Now, sir, I 
advise you to go in as usual to-morrow evening, and to 
play, raising your stakes as you did to-night. When 
the time comes I will expose him. Should I not be 
able to detect him, we must try another night. I am so 
much convinced that this is the case, and that I shall 
succeed, that, whether you play one night or three, I 
will guarantee that you shall be no loser, but will, on the 
honour of a gentleman, place in your hands the amount 
of your losses ; so that you will not have to ask your 
father for a cheque larger than you would do if you 
confessed to him to-morrow morning. I only ask in re- 


160 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

turn that you, on your part, will give me your word of 
honour that you will never touch a card again.” 

“ I cannot accept so generous an offer from a stranger,” 
Cotter said, in a low voice. 

“ I do not think that it is generous,” Mark replied, 
quietly, “ because I am perfectly convinced that I shall 
not have to pay at all. Have you any other I.O.U.’s 
out ?” 

“I have given them for about ^5000, but that is not 
in addition to the ^29,000. Emerson told me that as 
he knew that I should have difficulty in paying them at 
the present moment, he had taken them up and held 
them with his own.” 

“ Will you give me the names of the persons to whom 
you gave them in the first place?” 

“ Certainly.” And he mentioned three names, all of 
which stood with a black cross against them on Mark’s 
list 

“Thank you. Then you will go to-morrow night 
again ?’ ’ 

“Yes, and I swear to you that I will never touch a 
card afterwards.” 

“I don’t think that you need fear,” Mark said. “I 
have not been long in London, but I happen to have 
been shown a good many of the tricks that these black- 
legs play on greenhorns, which will account for my 
having noticed what has never been observed by the 
honest portion of the men who frequent the place. Now 
I will say good-night, sir. I shall be behind your chair 
or his to-morrow night.” 

“I don’t know what to say,” Cotter said, hesitatingly. 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


161 


“ There is no occasion to say anything ; it is the duty 
of every honest man to interfere if he sees another honest 
man being robbed, and that is my sole object in this 
matter. Good-night.” And turning round he walked 
rapidly away. 



CHAPTER XII. 

T HE next morning, before going round to Gibbons, 
Mark saw his chief, and told him of what had 
taken place on the previous evening. 

Mark then went to Chetwynd. 

“Well, what did you think of it last night?” 

“Well, I own that it went against my grain to see 
that young fellow being victimised by a sharper.” 

“ My dear Mark, you must not use such language as 
that I fancy from what I have heard that the Honour- 
able John is not altogether an estimable character, but 
to call him a sharper is going too far altogether.” 

“ I don’t think that it is, for from what I saw last night 
I am pretty well convinced that he did not play fair. I 
mean to go again to-night.” 

“Well, I will go, Mark. I need not ask Boldero, 
for he told me that he should look in again at ten 
o’clock this evening, for he thought that another night’s 
play would probably bring Cotter to the end of his 
tether.” 

162 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 163 

Accordingly, a little before ten they walked into the 
gambling-house together. 

Soon after ten Cotter and Emerson again sat down, 
and as usual a lot of spectators gathered round the table. 
The game resembled the one on the previous evening. 
Mark placed himself by the side of Cotter, a stranger 
stood immediately behind his chair, another member of 
the club was on the other side, and Sir James Flash 
stood partly behind him, so that, although somewhat in 
the background, he could obtain a view between their 
heads of Cotter’s cards. Mark saw to his satisfaction 
that Dick and Boldero had secured the exact position 
that he wished them to take. For the first few games 
the play was even, and Dick began to think that Mark 
had been mistaken, for Flash appeared to take little 
interest in the game, and made no sign how Emerson 
should proceed. 

As soon as the stake rose to a hundred again, he dis- 
tinctly saw Flash close his eyes and play with his mous- 
tache ; he called Boldero’s attention to the fact, and 
found the latter, who had also been watching, had 
noticed it. By the time a 'few games had been played, 
he verified Mark’s assertion that these signs were signals 
that Cotter’s hand was a bad one, and in each case 
Emerson played without giving his opponent the oppor- 
tunity of discarding and taking in fresh cards. He and 
Dick nodded quietly to Mark, who had satisfied himself 
that so far Emerson had not cheated in any other way. 
As on the previous evening, Cotter, after losing five or 
six hundred pounds, proposed a final game of five hun- 
dred. Mark bent down his head, so that the intentness 


164 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


of his gaze should not be noticed, but from under his 
eyebrows he watched Emerson’s every movement ; sud- 
denly he placed a foot on the edge of the chair of the 
man sitting in front of him, and with a sudden spring 
leapt upon the table, seized Emerson’s hand, and held 
it up to the full length of his arm. 

“Gentlemen,” he shouted, “this fellow is cheating; 
there is a card in his hand which he has just brought 
from under the table.” 

In a moment there was a dead silence of surprise : 
then Mark forced the hand open and took Emerson’s 
card, which he held up. 

“There, you see, gentlemen, it is a king.” Then a 
babel of sounds arose, a dozen hands were laid upon 
Emerson, who was pulled back from his chair and 
thrown down on a sofa, while hands were run over his 
coat, waistcoat, and breeches. 

“ Here they are,” a man shouted, and held a dozen 
cards over his head. 

The place of concealment had been cleverly chosen : 
the breeches apparently buttoned closely at the knee, 
but in reality they were loose enough to enable a finger 
and thumb to be passed between them and the stocking, 
and in the lining of the breeches was a pocket in which 
the cards had been placed, being held there by two pieces 
of whalebone, that closed the pocket. The searchers, 
among whom were Dick and Boldero, did not have it 
all their own way ; four or five men rushed upon them, 
and endeavoured to pull them off Emerson. The din 
of voices was prodigious, but Mark, still standing on 
the table, stilled it for a moment by shouting, — 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


165 


“The scoundrel has an accomplice, who this evening 
and yesterday has been signalling the strength of the 
cards in Mr. Cotter’s hands.” 

“Who is he?” was shouted over the room. 

“It is Sir James Flash,” Mark said. “I denounce 
him as a cheat and a sharper.” 

As pale as death, Flash rushed to the table. 

“ I don’t know who you are, sir,” he said, in a tone 
of concentrated rage, “ but you are a liar, and you shall 
answer for this in the morning.” 

“ I will answer to any gentleman that calls me to 
account,” Mark said, in a ringing voice, “but I don’t 
meet a man who has been expelled from White’s for 
cheating, and who I have no doubt is well stocked with 
cards at the present moment, in readiness for the victim 
that he is next going to meet after the plucking of Mr. 
Cotter has been done. Now, gentlemen, search him, 
and see if I am wrong ; if I am, I will apologise for that 
part of my accusation.” 

Flash drew a pistol from his pocket, but in an instant 
his arm was seized by those standing round him, and it 
exploded harmlessly. Among those who seized Flash 
was the man who had played with him the previous 
evening. In spite of his struggles and curses, and the 
efforts of his friends to rescue him, he too was thrown 
down and eight court cards were found concealed in his 
sleeve. The uproar while this was going on had been 
tremendous, but it was suddenly stilled as four men in 
dark clothes entered the room. Each held in his hand 
the well-known symbol of his office, the little ebony 
staff surmounted by a silver crown. 


1 66 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

“ I arrest all present in the name of the king,” one 
said, “for breaking the laws against gambling, and for 
brawling and the use of fire-arms. Now, gentlemen, 
resistance is useless ; I must request that you each give 
me your card, and your word of honour that you will 
appear at Bow Street to-morrow morning.” 

In five minutes the house was deserted. 

“ How can I thank you, Mr. Thorndyke,” Cotter, who 
was one of those who had seized Flash’s arm, diverted 
his aim, and searched him, said, when they got outside 
the house; “you have saved my life. It did not seem 
possible to me that you could succeed in showing that I 
was being cheated, and I had firmly resolved that, instead 
of allowing you to suffer loss, I would to-morrow morn- 
ing make a clean breast of the whole affair to my father, 
as I had intended to have done this morning.” 

“ If I might advise you, Mr. Cotter, I should say, carry 
out your intention so far as making a clean breast of it 
is concerned. Happily, you are free from debt, as those 
I.O.U.’s are worthless, for they were obtained from you 
by cheating, therefore you have no demand to make 
upon his purse. The police will, I have no doubt, en- 
deavour to keep this thing quiet, but your name may 
come out, and it would be far better that your father 
should hear this story from you than elsewhere ; and 
your assurance that you will never touch a card again, 
and the heavy lesson that you have had, will doubtless 
induce him to look at the matter leniently. It will no 
doubt be a painful story to tell, but it will be far better 
told by you.” 

“ I will do it, sir. As you say, the lesson has been a 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


167 

heavy one, and henceforth my father shall have no reason 
to complain of me. May I call and see you to-morrow 
evening ?” 

“ Certainly. I shall be at home from seven to eight, 
after which hour I have an engagement. Good-night.” 

Cotter walked on and Mark fell back and joined Dick 
and Boldero, who had fallen behind when they saw him 
speaking to Cotter. 

“ Well, Mark, I congratulate you,” Dick Chetwynd 
said. “You did it wonderfully, though how on earth 
you knew that fellow had a card in his hand is more 
than I can guess.” 

“That is easily explained,” Mark said. “Not wish- 
ing to fall a victim, I have of late been put up to a great 
many of these sharpers’ tricks by a man who at one time 
had been in the trade himself.” 

“That was a capital idea, Mark,” Dick said. “ I wish 
you would introduce me to him.” 

“ I won’t do that, Dick, but I shall be very glad to 
teach you all I know myself about it ; but I fancy that 
after this you will be in no great hurry to enter a gam- 
bling-hell again.” 

“ That is so, Mark. I have never had any great incli- 
nation for play, but after this you may be quite sure that 
I will fight shy of cards altogether ; still, I shall be glad 
if you will put me up to some of these tricks, for I may 
be able to some day save a victim of card-sharpers, as 
you have done this evening.” 

The next morning, when those who had been present 
at the scene of the previous evening arrived at the 
office of the detectives in Bow Street, they were shown 


i68 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


into some private rooms and asked to wait. Cotter, 
Mark, and his two friends first had an interview with the 
chief. 

“You will understand,” the latter said, “that this is 
an altogether informal affair. I propose you first tell 
me your story as briefly as possible.” 

This was done. 

“ Now, Mr. Cotter, I take it that you do not wish to 
prosecute.” 

“ Certainly not. I would, in fact, give anything rather 
than appear in it.” 

“You have said that, in addition to the I.O.U.’s that 
you have given to the two men caught cheating, they 
hold others to the amount of some ,£5000 or ^6000, 
given by you to three other frequenters of the club. In 
fact, these papers have been found in Emerson’s pocket- 
book ; he told you, I believe, that he had taken them 
up so that you should not be inconvenienced by them. 
I understand, then, that you will be quite content if you 
get these I.O.U.’s back again ; those given to Emerson 
and Flash are, of course, worthless. After what has 
happened, they could not be presented, but probably 
you might have trouble about the others, for, though I 
have no doubt that all of the men were in league to- 
gether, we have no means of absolutely proving it.” 

“ I shall be more than content, sir ; I have no wish 
to prosecute.” 

“We are glad,” the chief said, “to be able to close a 
dangerous place, and as the exposure would put a stop 
to the career of these two men and no doubt alarm a 
good many others, we don’t care about taking the mat- 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


169 


ter into court. Such gross scandals as this are best kept 
quiet, when there is no object in ventilating them. 
Therefore, gentlemen, as Mr. Cotter is willing to do so, 
we shall let the matter drop. I shall be obliged if you 
will step into the next room, however, until I have seen 
these three men.” 

When they had left, the three were brought in. 

“You have been concerned, sirs,” the chief said, 
sternly, “ in winning large sums of money from the Hon. 
William Denton, from Mr. James Carew, from Mr. Wil- 
liam Hobson, and others ; in all of these cases, the two 
men caught cheating last night were also concerned. 
You all hold notes of hand of Mr. Hobson. I shall 
advise that gentleman’s father to refuse to pay those 
notes, and promise him that if any further request for 
payment is made, I will furnish him with such particu- 
lars for publication as will more than justify him in the 
eyes of the world in refusing to honour them. You, as 
well as Mr. Emerson and Sir James Flash, have won 
large sums from Mr. Cotter, and the fact that the 
I.O.U.’s he gave you were found on Mr. Emerson points 
very strongly to their being in confederacy with you in 
the matter ; at any rate, they point so strongly that, 
whether a jury would convict or not on the evidence 
that we shall be able to lay before them, there can be 
no question whatever as to what the opinion of men of 
honour will be. These I.O.U.’s are in our hands. Mr. 
Cotter does not desire to pursue the case ; he will, how- 
ever, refuse absolutely to pay those I.O.U.’s, and in 
doing so he will have the approval of all honourable 
men. That being so, the I.O.U.’s are absolutely useless 


lyo 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


to you, and if you will agree to my tearing them up 
now, he has most kindly consented to let the matter 
drop in your cases.” 

The three men, who had all turned very white when 
he was speaking, now protested angrily against imputa- 
tions being made on their honour. 

“ Well, sirs,” the officer said, “ in that case the matter 
can, of course, go on. You know best what the feeling 
will be as to these I.O.U.’s. They wfill form an impor- 
tant item of evidence against you, you will see. As the 
matter stands, either you gave them to Emerson to col- 
lect for you, without any money passing between you, a’ 
very strange procedure, which you will find it difficult 
to explain, or else he gave you the coin for them and 
you passed them over to him, and have therefore parted 
with all claim on Mr. Cotter on your own account. Of 
course, I impound them with the other I.O.U.’s as proof 
of a conspiracy between you. Now, sirs; am I to tear 
them up or not ?” 

The three men looked at each other, and then one of 
them said, — 

“ We protest altogether against the assertion, sir, but 
at the same time, as there can be little doubt that Emer- 
son and Sir James Flash have played unfairly, and we 
do not wish any association of our names with theirs, we 
are perfectly willing that the I.O.U.’s which, under the 
circumstances, we should never have dreamt of present- 
ing, should be destroyed.” 

“I think that you have chosen wisely,” the chief said, 
drily. “ It is a pity that you did not do so at first. 
These are the I.O.U.’s he gave to one or other of you. 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


; 


Perhaps it would be pleasanter for you to destroy them 
yourselves.” 

The three men took the papers with their names on 
them and tore them up. 

'‘Thank you,” he went on, sarcastically. “That will 
place you in a better position. You will be able to tell 
your friends that you felt so indignant at the manner in 
which Mr. Cotter had been swindled by Emerson and 
Flash that you at once destroyed his I.O.U.’s for the 
sums that you had won of him. But, gentlemen,” — he 
spoke sternly now, — “remember that we have a long 
list against you, and that the next victim, or let us say 
his father, might be more disposed to push matters to 
their full length than is Mr. Cotter. Remember, also, 
that we keep ourselves acquainted with what is going 
on, and that should trouble arise we shall produce all 
the complaints that have been made against you, and 
shall also mention your connection with this affair, in 
which, as I understand, you all did your best to prevent 
those two fellows from being searched.” 

Without saying another word the three men went 
out of the room, too crestfallen to make even an attempt 
at keeping up their air of indignation. The others 
were then called in. 

“ I am sorry, gentlemen,” he said, “ that you have 
had the trouble of coming here, for the gentleman 
swindled has declined to prosecute the swindlers, and 
you will understand that he is somewhat anxious that 
his name should not appear in the matter. Fortunately, 
as instead of paying in cash he gave I.O.U.’s for his 
losses, he will not be a loser to any large amount by 


172 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


these transactions. I may say that the proprietor of 
the hell has been here this morning, and to avoid 
trouble he has consented to close his place for good. 

I have only to remark that I should advise you, gentle- 
men, in future, only to indulge in gambling in places 
where you may be fairly assured of the character of the 
men you play with. I think, in conclusion, that you 
may all feel grateful to Mr. Cotter for refusing to prose- 
cute. It has saved you from having to appear in court 
as witnesses in so utterly disreputable an affair.” 

There was a general murmur of assent, and in a 
minute or two the room was clear. Flash and Emer- 
son were then brought in, with a constable on each side 
of them. 

“ Mr. Cotter has, I regret to say, declined to prose- 
cute, and Mr. Thorndyke has done the same with regard 
to Sir James Flash’s use of his pistol. You have, there- 
fore, escaped the punishment due to cheats at cards. 
It is the less matter, as you are not likely to have an 
opportunity of making fresh victims, for the story will 
be known by this afternoon in every club in London. 
These I.O.U.’s will be of no use to you — they are not 
worth the paper on which they are written. However, 
I shall take it upon myself to hand them back to Mr. 
Cotter, to prevent the possibility of their getting into 
other hands and giving him trouble. You can unlock 
those handcuffs, constable ; these men are at liberty to 
go, and if they will take my advice they will lose no 
time in crossing the water and establishing themselves 
somewhere where their talents are likely to be better 
appreciated than they are here. They can go ; one of 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


173 


you can call a hackney coach for them if they wish it. 
They will scarcely care to walk with their garments in 
their present condition.” 

Then the chief went into the next room. 

“There is an end of that affair, Mr. Cotter. Here 
are the I.O.U.’s you gave to those two swindlers. Those 
you gave to the other three men, who were no doubt 
their confederates, have been torn up by them in my 
presence. They declare that after seeing how shame- 
fully you had been victimised they had not the slightest 
idea of ever presenting them.” 

“ I am sure that 1 am extremely grateful to you,” 
Cotter said. “ I know that I have behaved like a mad- 
man, and that I don’t deserve to have got off as I have 
done. It will be a lesson to me for life, I can assure 
you.” 



CHAPTER XIII. 

A T seven o’clock in the evening Philip Cotter called 
at Mark’s lodgings, accompanied by his father, 
who, as he came in with him, advanced at once 
to Mark and shook him warmly by the hand. 

“ My son has told me everything, Mr. Thorndyke,” 
he said, “ and I cannot thank you sufficiently for the 
noble part you took in rescuing him from the terrible 
effects of his folly. I have been down here twice this 
afternoon, for I felt that I could not rest until I had 
shaken you by the hand. It is not the question of 
money so much, though that would have been a serious 
loss to me, but it is the saving of my son’s life, and the 
saving of the honour of our name.” 

“ I am glad, indeed, to have been of service, Mr. 
Cotter, and I trust that you have consented to forgive 
the folly that he has committed, and which I feel sure 
will never be repeated.” 

“ Yes. It was a heavy blow to me, Mr. Thorndyke, 
when Philip told me ; but as he has sworn most sol- 
174 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


175 


emnly never to touch a card again, and as I feel sure 
that the lesson cannot but be a useful one to him all his 
life, I have agreed to say no more about it, and let the 
matter drop altogether. He has been fortunate to have 
escaped so easily. He told me of the noble offer you 
had made : to pay his losses if, on proceeding two or 
three nights longer on his mad course, you should not 
be able to prove that he was being cheated.” 

“I was not committing myself heavily,” Mark said, 
with a smile. “ I had seen enough to be absolutely 
certain, and was sure that I should be able to bring it 
home to them.” 

“ Well, sir, you have, at any rate, laid us both under 
the deepest obligation. Is there any possible way in 
which we can show our gratitude?” 

Mark thought for a moment. 

“ In one way you might do me a favour, Mr. Cotter. 
A ward of my father’s, who will inherit some property 
when she comes of age, is at present finishing her edu- 
cation in town, and is living with a lady who has been 
her friend and companion since childhood. I have a 
good many acquaintances, but they are all bachelors ; 
and, having been living down at my father’s place, near 
Reigate, for so many years, the ladies have no acquaint- 
ances in London. They live at Islington, and their life is 
a very dull one. I am anxious, for several reasons, that 
the young lady should have the advantage of going 
somewhat into society. Hitherto I have had no means 
of introducing her. If it is not too much to ask, Mr. 
Cotter, I should be extremely glad and obliged if Mrs. 
Cotter would call on them and give them an introduc- 


176 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


tion into society. The lady with my father’s ward is 
the widow of a captain in the Indian army, and is in 
all ways a very charming person, and has been at the 
head of my father’s establishment for the last twelve 
years.” 

“ With the greatest pleasure in the world, Mr. Thorn- 
dyke. I am only sorry that it is so slight a thing that 
you ask of me. I have thought it but right to tell my 
wife what has passed, and I had difficulty in persuading 
her not to come with me this evening to also express her 
gratitude to you. She will be pleased, indeed, to call 
upon your friends at once, and I am sure she will do so 
to-morrow. I was going to ask you to dine with us, 
and I hope that you will do so. We shall have no one 
else, and I hope that you will be able to arrange to 
meet your friends at our house a few days later.” 

The next morning Mark called on Mrs. Cunningham. 

“ I think you will have a visitor to-day,” he said. “ It 
has happened that I have been able to do a service to 
the son of Mr. Cotter, a wealthy banker. I am going to 
dine there this evening. He asked me about my friends 
in London, and I mentioned that my only lady friends 
were you and Millicent. He asked a few questions as to 
where you were living and so on, and said that his wife 
would have much pleasure in calling and introducing 
Millicent into society. As your life is very dull here, 
and it is clearly very desirable that Millicent should go 
into society, I gladly accepted the offer, and I believe 
that she will call to-day.” 

“ That will be very nice, indeed, Mark. Millicent is 
not complaining, but she must have felt it very dull. I 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


1 77 


have even felt it so myself, after the cheerful society we 
had at home.” 

“ I don’t know that I shall like it,” Millicent said, 
doubtfully. 

“ Oh, yes, you will, Millicent ; and, besides, it will be 
good for you. It is not natural for a girl of your age 
to be here without friends, and I shall be very glad to 
know that you are going to mix a little with other 
people.” 

Mrs. Cotter called that afternoon, and three days later 
Mark met Mrs. Cunningham and Millicent at a dinner 
party at the banker’s, and Mrs. Cotter introduced them 
very warmly to several of her friends, with the result that 
in a very short time they were frequently invited out, 
while they became very intimate with the banker and 
his wife, and often spent the day there. 

Some little time after this Mark was entrusted by his 
chief with the work of discovering a man who had com- 
mitted a very atrocious murder, and was, it was tolerably 
certain, hiding in the slums of Westminster. It was the 
first business of the kind that had been confided to him, 
and he was exceedingly anxious to carry it out success- 
fully. He dressed himself as a hawker and took a small 
lodging in one of the lanes, being away the greater por- 
tion of the day ostensibly on his business, and of an 
evening dropping into some of the worst public-houses 
in the neighbourhood. He was at first viewed with some 
suspicion, but it was not long before he became popular. 
He let it be understood that he had got into trouble down 
in the country, and that he was quite ready to take part in 
any job that promised to be profitable. But he princi- 

12 


;s 


HE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


pally owed his popularity to the fact that the bully of the 
locality picked a quarrel with him, and, to the astonish- 
ment of those present, Mark invited him to go outside. 

“You had better make it up with him, mate,” a man 
sitting by his side whispered. “ He was in the prize-ring 
at one time, and thrashed big Mike Hartley at Kenning- 
ton. He had to give it up owing to having fought a 
cross. He would kill you in five minutes.” 

“ I will chance that,” Mark said, quietly, as he moved 
towards the door. “ I don’t think that he is stronger 
than I am, and I can use my fists a bit, too.” 

By the time they had taken off their upper garments 
a crowd had assembled. The news that a hawker was 
going to stand up against Black Jim circulated rapidly 
and caused intense excitement. To the astonishment 
of the spectators, the bully from the first had not a 
shadow of a chance, and at the end of the third round 
was carried away senseless, while the hawker had not 
received a scratch. A few days later, Mark, who, on the 
strength of his prowess, had had two or three hints that 
he could be put up to a good thing if he was inclined 
to join, was going down to Westminster when two men 
stopped and looked after him. 

“ I tell you, Emerson, that is the fellow. I could 
swear to him anywhere. What he is got up like that 
for, I cannot tell you, but I should not be surprised if 
he is one of that Bow Street gang. He called himself 
Mark Thorndyke, and Chetwynd said that he was a gen- 
tleman of property, but that might have been part of the 
plan to catch us. I have never been able to understand 
how a raw countryman could have caught you palming 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


79 


that card. I believe the fellow is a Bow Street runner ; 
if so, it is rum if we cannot manage to get even with 
him before we go. It seemed to me that luck had de- 
serted us altogether ; but this looks as if it was going to 
turn again. Let’s go after him.” 

Keeping some fifty yards behind him they watched 
Mark to his lodgings, waited until he came out again, 
and followed him to a public-house. 

“ He is acting as a detective, sure enough,” Emerson 
said. “ The question is, what are we to do next?” 

In half an hour Mark came out again. Several peo- 
ple nodded to him as he passed them, but they saw a 
big man, who happened to be standing under a lamp, 
turn his back suddenly as Mark approached him, and, 
after he had passed, stand scowling after him and mut- 
tering deep curses. Flash at once went up to him. 

“ Do you know who that fellow is, my man?” 

The fellow turned savagely upon him. 

“ I don’t know who he is, but what is that to you ?” 

“ He is not a friend of ours,” Flash said, quietly ; 
“ quite the contrary. We have known him when he was 
not got up like this, and we are rather curious to know 
what he is doing here.” 

“Do you mean that?” 

“ I do ; I owe the fellow a grudge.” 

“So do I,” the man growled. “Just step up this 
next turning ; there won’t be anyone about there. Now, 
then, what do yer want to know?” 

“ I want to know who he is.” 

“ Well, he calls himself a hawker ; but my idea of 
him is he is one of the fancy, perhaps a west country- 


180 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

man who is keeping dark here till he can get a match 
on. I have been a prize-fighter myself, but he knocked 
me out in three rounds the other day.” 

“Well, the last time I saw him,” Flash said, “ he was 
dressed as a swell. My idea of him is, he is a Bow 
Street runner, and is got up like this to lay his hands on 
some of the fellows down here.” 

“You don’t mean it,” the man said, with a deep oath. 
“ Then I can tell you he has come to the wrong shop. I 
have only got to whisper it about, and his life would not 
be worth an hour’s purchase. I had meant to stick a 
knife in him on the first opportunity, but this will save 
me the trouble.” 

“Well, you can have your revenge and five guineas 
besides,” Flash said. “ But we must be there at the 
time. I should like him to know that I was at the bot- 
tom of his being caught.” 

They stood talking together for a few minutes and 
then separated, Flash and his companion going back to 
a quiet lodging they had taken until they could finish 
their arrangements for disposing of their furniture and 
belongings before going abroad, while at the same time 
they finished plucking a country greenhorn they had 
met at a coffee-house. Two days later, wrapped up in 
great-coats and with rough caps pulled down over their 
eyes, they entered the thieves’ resort half an hour be- 
fore Mark’s usual time of getting there. A larger num- 
ber of men than usual were assembled, and among them 
was Black Jim. The men were all talking excitedly, 
and were evidently furious at the news that the pugilist 
had just told them. 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


8 


“Those are the gents that have given me the office,” 
he said, as Flash and his companion entered. “They 
can tell yer he is one of that cursed Bow Street lot.” 

“ That is right enough, my men,” Flash said. “ He 
and four of his mates broke into a place where we were 
having a bit of play, three weeks since, marched us all 
away to Bow Street, and shut the place up. I don’t 
know what he is down here for, but you may be sure 
that it’s for no good to some of you. We owe him a 
heavy one ourselves. He came spying on us dressed 
up as a swell and spoilt our game, and got the darbies 
put on us, and we have sworn to get even with him.” 

“You will get even, don’t you fear,” one of the men 
growled, “ and more than even, strike me blind if you 
don’t.” 

“Look here, lads,” Flash said. “There is one thing 
I say, — don’t use your knives on him ; remember he is a 
runner, and no doubt his chief knows all that he is 
doing, and no doubt ordered him to come here. There 
will be a big search, you may be sure, when he don’t 
turn up to make his report. So don’t let’s have any 
bloodshed. Let the thing be done quietly.” 

“We can chuck his body into the river,” one said. 

“ Yes ; but if it is picked up with half a dozen holes 
in it, you may be sure that they will be down here, and 
like enough every man who has used this place will be 
arrested ; you know that when there are twenty men 
the chances are that one will slip his neck out of the 
halter by turning king’s evidence.” 

An angry growl went round the room. 

“ Well, you know well enough it is so — it is always 


82 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


the case ; besides we ought to give him a little time to 
prepare himself. My idea is that the best plan will be 
to bind and gag him first, then we can hold a little court 
over him and let him know what is coming. An hour 
later, when the place gets a bit quiet, we can carry him 
down to the river, — it is not above fifty yards away, — tie 
a heavy weight round his neck, cut his cords the last 
thing, and chuck him over ; if his body is found, it will 
be thought it is that of some chap tired of life who took 
pains to drown himself pretty quickly, and there won’t 
be any fuss over him, and there will be nothing to come 
upon any of you fellows for.” 

There was a general murmur of assent. Several of 
those present had already committed themselves to some 
extent with the supposed hawker, and were as eager as 
Flash himself that he should be killed ; still, all felt that 
it was as well that it should be managed with the least 
possible risk of discovery, for while an ordinary man could 
be put out of the way without any trouble arising, the 
fact that he was a Bow Street runner added enor- 
mously to the risk of the discovery of his fate. 

There was a little talk and then two of the men went 
out and brought back a couple of strong ropes. A few 
minutes after their return, Mark Thorndyke came in. 
He paused as he entered the room in surprise at the 
silence that reigned, for he was accustomed to be 
greeted with friendly exclamations. However, as he 
walked in, the door closed, and then, suddenly, with 
shouts of “Down with the spy,” the men sprang from 
their seats and made a sudden rush at him. For a 
minute the struggle was tremendous : man after man 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


183 


went down under Mark’s blows, others clung on to him 
from behind, a rope was passed round his legs and 
pulled, and he fell down with a crash, bringing down 
five or six of his assailants ; a minute later he was 
gagged and bound. 

While the struggle was going on, no one noticed that 
a Lascar’s face was pressed against the window ; it dis- 
appeared as soon as Mark fell, and ten minutes later 
a dark-faced sailor ran into Gibbons’s. It was a quiet 
evening at Ingleston’s, and Gibbons, after smoking a pipe 
with half a dozen of the pugilists, had just returned. 

“ Hallo,” he said, as he opened the door, “ what the 
deuce do you want?” 

The man was for a moment too breathless to answer. 

“You know Mr. Thorndyke?” he said, at last, in very 
fair English. 

“Yes, I know him. Well, what of him?” 

“ He has been attacked by a number of thieves in a 
public-house near the river at Westminster, and he will 
be murdered unless you go with others to help him.” 

“What the deuce was he doing there?” Gibbons 
muttered, and then, seizing his cap, said to the Lascar, 
“Come along with me ; it ain’t likely that we shall be 
in time, but we will try anyhow.” 

He ran to Ingleston’s. 

“Come along, Ingleston,” he exclaimed, “and all of 
you. You all know Mr. Thorndyke. This man says 
he has been attacked by a gang down at Westminster, 
and will be murdered. I am afraid we shan’t be in time, 
but it is worth trying.” 

The prize-fighters all leapt to their feet. Mark had 


184 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


sparred with several of them, and, being open-handed 
and friendly, was generally liked. In a moment, headed 
by Ingleston and Gibbons, they started at the top of 
their speed, and in less than a quarter of an hour were 
at bank-side. 

“That is the house,” the sailor said, pointing to the 
public, where a red blind had been lowered at the win- 
dow, and two men lounged outside the door to tell any 
chance customer that might come along he was not 
wanted there at present. 

Inside a mock trial had been going on, and Mark had 
been sentenced to death as a spy, not a voice being 
raised in his defence. As soon as he had been lifted up 
and seated so that he could see the faces of those pres- 
ent, he recognized the two gamblers, and saw at once 
that his fate was sealed. Even had they not been there, 
the chance of escape would have been small. The fact 
that one of the detectives had been caught under cir- 
cumstances when there was but slight chance of its ever 
being known how he came to his end was, in itself, suffi- 
cient to doom him. Several of the men present had 
taken him into their confidence, and he had encouraged 
them to do so ; not that he wanted to entrap them or 
that he intended to do so, but in order to obtain a clue 
through them as to the hiding-place of the man he was 
in search of. 

The savage exultation on the faces of the two gam- 
blers, however, was sufficient to extinguish any ray of 
hope. He felt sure at once that they had been the 
authors of his seizure, and that no thought of mercy 
would enter the minds of these two scoundrels whose 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


185 


plans he had frustrated, whose position he had demol- 
ished, and to whom he had caused the loss of a large 
sum of money. Neither Flash nor Emerson would 
have taken share in a crime known to so many had they 
not been on the point of leaving England. Their names 
were known to no one there, and even should some of 
these afterwards peach, they would at least be safe. 
Mark had been asked whether he could deny that he 
was a member of the detective force, and had shaken 
his head. Even if he had told a lie, which he would 
not do, the lie would have been a useless one. No one 
would have believed it, for the two gamblers would have 
been witnesses that he was so. 

He had been placed in one corner of the room so that 
what light there was would not fall on his face, and had 
anyone entered they would not have noticed that he 
was gagged. One, indeed, had suggested that it would 
be better to lay him under one of the benches, but 
Black Jim said, with a brutal laugh, — 

“ No, no ; it is better that we should keep sight of 
him, and if anyone asks a question, of course we can say 
that the gentleman has the toothache.” 

Presently Flash spoke to the ruffian in a low voice. 

“Yes, I think you are right,” he replied. “Look 
here,” he went on, raising his voice, “there is no occa- 
sion to have such a lot in this business ; Jake Watson, 
Bill the Tinker, and me are quite enough to carry him 
to his bed. I reckon the rest had better make them- 
selves scarce when the time comes, go home, and keep 
their mouths shut. I need not say that anyone who lets 
his tongue wag about it is likely to come to a worse end 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


1 86 

than this bloodhound. We will have another glass of 
grog before you turn out ; the streets won’t be quiet for 
another hour yet, and there is another guinea of this 
worthy hawker’s to be spent. Summers, make another 
big bowl of punch. Don’t put so much water in it as 
you did in the last.” 

The landlord, a notorious ruffian, was just coming into 
the room with a huge bowl when there was the sound 
of a scuffle outside. 

“ You had better see what is up,” Black Jim said, and 
two of the men nearest the door unbarred and opened 
it. As they did so there was a rush, and eight powerful 
men ran in, knocking to the floor those who had opened 
the door. The rest sprang to their feet ; Gibbons looked 
round, and as his eye fell upon Mark, who had, the mo- 
ment the men inside rose, got into a standing position, 
Gibbons launched himself towards him, striking four of 
the ruffians who endeavoured to stop him to the ground 
with his crushing blows. 

“This way,” he shouted to his friends. “ Ingleston 
and Tring, do you keep the door.” 

The moment the six men had closed round Mark, one 
of them taking out his knife, cut the cords, removed the 
bandage from his mouth, and extricated the gag. The 
name of the two prize-fighters had created something 
like a panic among the crowd, which had increased 
when one of them shouted, “ It is Charley Gibbons.” 
Flash and Emerson sprung to their feet with the rest, 
and the latter shouted, “ Go at them, men, there are only 
eight of them, and we are twenty ; knife them, or you 
will all hang for this job.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


87 


The knowledge of their danger was evident to all 
the men, and, nerved by desperation, they rushed at the 
prize-fighters, but the eight were now nine, and each of 
them in a fray of this kind was equal to half a dozen 
ordinary men. Scarce a word was spoken, but the 
sound of crushing blows and scuffling, and an occa- 
sional oath made a confused din in the half-lighted room. 
Mark burst his way through his assailants to the spot 
where Flash and Emerson were standing, somewhat in 
the rear of the crowd, for they had been sitting at the 
other end of the room. Flash had a pistol in his hand, 
but the man who was standing in front of him was struck 
with such violence that he fell backwards, knocking 
Emerson to the ground, and almost upsetting Flash, and 
before the latter could steady himself Mark struck him 
with all his force under the chin. A moment later the 
landlord blew out the twb candles, and in the darkness 
the ruffians made a dash for the door, carried Tring and 
Ingleston off their feet, and rushed out into the lane. 

“ If the man who blew out those candles don’t light 
them again at once,” Gibbons shouted, “ I, Charley 
Gibbons, tell him that I will smash him and burn this 
place over his head ; he had best be quick about it.” 

The landlord, cowed with the threat, soon returned 
with a candle from the kitchen, and lit those that he had 
extinguished. 

“Well Mr. Thorndyke, we just arrived in time, I 
fancy,” Gibbons said. 

“ You have saved my life, Gibbons — you and the 
others. How you got to know that I was here I cannot 
imagine, but I should have been a dead man in another 


88 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


half-hour, if you had not arrived. I thank you all from 
the bottom of my heart.” 

“That is all right, sir,” Gibbons said. “ It is a pleas- 
ure to give such scoundrels as these a lesson. Is any- 
one hurt? I fancy I have got a scratch or two.” 

Several of the men had been cut with knives, but 
the blows had been given so hurriedly that no one 
was seriously injured. Twelve men lay on the ground. 

“Now, sir, what shall we do with these fellows?” 

‘‘I should say we had better leave them alone, Gib- 
bons. I don’t want any row over the affair. It is the 
work of these two fellows here. I think I pretty, well 
settled one of them.” 

Gibbons stooped over Flash. 

“ You have broken his jaw, sir ; but he will come 
round in time. I believe this other fellow is only 
shamming. I don’t see any of our handiwork upon 
his face. The others have all got as much as they 
want, I think.” And taking a candle he looked at their 
faces. “There is not one of them who will want to 
show up for a week or so,” he said, “and there are 
two or three will carry the marks to their graves. Well, 
sir, if you don’t want anything done to them, the 
sooner we are off the better. Those fellows who got 
away may bring a lot of others down upon us. As long 
as it is only fists, we could march through Westminster ; 
but as they would have knives, it is just as well to get 
out of it before there is any trouble. You are got up 
in a rum way, Mr. Thorndyke.” 

“Yes; I will tell you about it afterwards. I agree 
with you that we had best be moving at once.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 189 

But the men who had fled were too glad to have 
made their escape to think of anything but to make 
for their dens as quickly as possible, and the party 
passed through the lanes into the open space in front of 
Parliament House without interruption. 

“ We will go up to your place, Ingleston, and talk it 
over there,” Mark said. “You can get those cuts 
bound up, and I shall be very glad to get a drink. 
That thing they shoved into my mouth hurt my tongue 
a good deal, and I have not gone through a pleasant 
half-hour I can tell you.” 

He walked up past Whitehall with Gibbons and 
Ingleston, the others going in pairs so as not to attract 
attention. As soon as they reached Ingleston ’s place, 
the latter told the man in the bar to put the shutters up, 
led the way Into the bar parlour, and mixed a large 
bowl of punch. 

“ Now, Gibbons, in the first place,” Mark said, after 
quenching his thirst, “ how did you know of my being 
in danger ?” 

“Well sir, a black sailor chap ran into my place sud- 
denly and told me.” 

“ Do you mean a coloured man, Gibbons?” 

“Yes, sir, one of those Lascar chaps you see about 
the docks. I did not ask any questions, but ran as 
hard as I could. I had only left here five minutes 
before, and knew that Tring and some of the others 
would still be here. They did not lose a moment, and 
off we went. The sailor chap he kept ahead. I tried 
to come up to him two or three times to get to know 
something about it, but he always seemed to quicken 


90 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


his pace when I was coming up, and I soon got too 
blown to want to do much talking. He led us to the 
door, and after that I saw nothing more of him. What 
became of him I don’t know. I expect he was better 
at running than he was at fighting.” 

“ It is curious,” Mark said, thoughtfully. “ He might 
have been in the place when I went in, and slipped out 
while I was making a fight for it. I have seen a Lascar 
several times while I have been down there. I daresay 
it was the same man, though why he should take such 
trouble for the sake of a stranger I don’t know. There 
seems to be a good many of them about, for, now I 
think of it, I have run against them several times 
wherever I have been in town.” 

“ Now, sir, what did they want to kill you for?” 

“ Well, Gibbons, it happened in this way. My father, 
you know, was murdered by a man who had a grudge 
against him and who is both a highwayman and a house- 
breaker.” 

“ They don’t often go together,” Ingleston said. “The 
highwaymen generally look down upon the burglars, 
and keep themselves to themselves.” 

“ I know they do, Ingleston ; but this fellow has 
been a convict, and is not particular what he turns his 
hand to. The detectives have been after him for a long 
time, but have failed, and I determined to take the 
matter up myself, and ever since I have been up here I 
have been hunting about in the worst quarters of the 
town. The people of Bow Street have aided me in 
every way they could, and I suppose some of these men 
have seen me go in or out of the place. Of course, 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


9i 


when I am going into these bad quarters I put on a dis- 
guise, and manage to get in with some of these thieves, 
and so to try to get news of him through them. Three 
weeks ago I decided to try Westminster. I was getting 
on uncommonly well there, principally because I gave a 
tremendous thrashing to a fellow they call Black Jim. 
He has been a prize-fighter.” 

“I know him,” Tring said: “it was the fellow that 
was kicked out for selling a fight. He was not a bad 
man with his fists, either ; but I expect you astonished 
him, Mr. Thorn dyke.” 

“Yes, I knocked him out of time in three rounds. 
Well, he has been a bully down there, and everyone was 
very glad that he was taken down. After that I got to 
know several of the worst lot down there. They fancied 
that I was one of themselves, and several of them made 
proposals to me to join them, and of course I encour- 
aged the idea in hopes of coming upon the man that I 
was after. Then some fellow in the street recognised 
me, I suppose, and denounced me to the rest as being 
one of the runners. I suppose he told them this even- 
ing, before I went in. 

“The place was a regular thieves’ den, which, of 
course, was why I went there. Naturally they were 
furious, especially those who had been proposing to me 
to join them. Anyhow, they had evidently settled 
among themselves that I was to be put out of the way, 
and directly I went in I was attacked. I knocked down 
a few of them, but they jumped on my back, and one of 
them managed to get a rope round my legs, and down I 
went with three or four of them, and before I could get 


92 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


up again they had tied and gagged me. Then they 
held a sort of court. Man after man got up and said 
that I had been drawing them on to find out what they 
were up to, and had agreed to join them, of course with 
the intention of getting them caught in the act, and two 
got up and said that they knew me as one of the run- 
ners. They all agreed that I must be put out of the way. 

“ I suppose, as the landlord did not want blood spilt 
in his house, they did not knife me at once ; however, 
they told me that they had decided that as soon as the 
coast was clear I should be carried down to the river 
and chucked in with an old anchor tied to my neck. I 
had just a gleam of hope a short time before you came 
in, for then it had been settled that it was just as well 
no more should be engaged in the affair than was neces- 
sary, and that Black Jim, with two others, whom I had 
been talking to, and the two men who had told them 
that I was a runner, should manage it, and the rest were 
to go off to their homes. 

“ I had been all the time trying to loosen my ropes, 
and had got one of my hands nearly free, and I thought 
that if they waited another half-hour I might have got 
them both free, and been able to make a bit of a fight 
of it, though I had very little hope of getting my legs 
free. 

“ However, I had my eye on the knife of the man 
who was sitting next to me, and who was one of those 
who was to stay. I thought that if I had my hands free I 
could snatch his knife, settle him, and then cut the ropes 
from my legs ; that done, I could, I think, have man- 
aged Black Jim and the others. As for the men who 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


193 


denounced me, they were small men, and I had no fear 
of them in a fight, unless, as I thought likely enough, 
they might have pistols. One of them is the fellow 
whose jaw I broke ; I hit him hard, for he had a pistol 
in his hand.” 

“There is no doubt you hit him hard,” Gibbons said, 
drily. “ He looked a better sort than the rest.” 

“Yes; the fellow vras a card -sharper whom I once 
detected at cheating ; and so was the one who was lying 
next to him, the man whom you said you thought was 
shamming.” 

By this time the men’s wounds were all bandaged up. 
Mark told them that he would be round there again in 
the morning, and hoped that they would all be there. 

“ I shall go home at once and turn in,” he said. 
“Straining at those cords has taken the skin off my 
wrists, and I feel stiff all over. It will be a day or two, 
Gibbons, before I am able to put on the gloves again. 
I wish I could find that Lascar. I owe him a heavy 
debt.” 

As Mark made his way home he thought a good deal 
about the coloured sailor. If the man had been in 
the den, the ruffians would hardly have ventured to 
attack him in the presence of a stranger. Of course, 
he might have been passing, and have seen the fray 
through the window, but in that case he would run to 
the nearest constable. How could he know anything 
about his habits, and why should he have gone to 
Gibbons for assistance ? That, and the fact that he had 
so often observed Lascars in the places he had gone to, 
certainly looked as if he had been watched, and, if so, it 

13 


194 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


could only be connected with those diamonds. It was 
a curious thing altogether. 

The next morning he went early to Bow Street. As 
soon as the chief came he related the events of the pre- 
vious evening, and told him that it was Flash and Emer- 
son who had denounced him. 

“ I know the place,” the officer said. “ It is one of 
the worst thieves’ dens in London. However, it is just 
as well you decided not to take any steps. Of course, 
all the fellows would have sworn that they did not in- 
tend to do you any harm, but that Flash had put them 
up to frightening you, and I doubt whether, any jury 
would have convicted. As to the other men, we know 
that they are all thieves and some of them worse, but the 
mere fact that they proposed to you to join them in their 
crimes won’t do, as no actual crime was committed. 
However, I shall have the gang closely watched, and, at 
any rate, you had better leave Westminster alone ; 
someone else must take up the work of looking for that 
man you were on the watch for. Anyhow, you had 
best take a week’s rest ; there is no doubt you have had 
a very narrow escape. It is strange about that Lascar ; 
he might not have cared for going to take part in the 
fray, but you would have thought that he would have 
waited outside to get a reward for bringing those men to 
your rescue.” 

As Mark did not care to tell about the diamonds till 
the time came for getting them, he made no reply be- 
yond expressing an agreement with the chief’s surprise 
at the man not having remained to the end of the fray. 
On leaving Bow Street he went up to Ingleston’s. The 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


195 


men who had rescued him the night before were gath- 
ered there, and he presented each of them with a cheque 
for twenty-five guineas. 

“ I know very well,” he said, “ that you had no thought 
of reward when you hurried down to save me, but that 
is no reason why I should not show my gratitude to you 
for the service you have rendered me. Some of you 
might very well have been seriously hurt, if not killed, by 
their knives. At any rate, I insist upon you taking it. 
Money is always useful, you know, and it is not often 
so well earned as this.” 

The men were greatly pleased, and Tring said, — 

“Well, sir, if you get into another scrape you may be 
sure that you can count upon us.” 

“ I shall try and not get into any more,” Mark laughed. 
“This has been a good deal more serious that I had 
bargained for, and I shall be very careful in the future.” 



CHAPTER XIV. 

“ r ”T'HE burglary season seems to have recommenced 
in earnest,” Mark’s chief said, some nine months 
after he had been at work. “ For a time there 
has been a lull, as you know, but I have had three re- 
ports this week, and it strikes me that they are by the 
same hand as before ; of course, I may be mistaken, but 
they are done in a similar way, the only difference being 
that there is ground for believing that only one man is 
engaged in them. I fancy the fellow that you are after 
has either been away from London for some time or has 
been keeping very quiet. At any rate, we have every 
ground for believing that he keeps himself aloof from 
London thieves, which is what I should expect from such 
a man. If one has nerve enough to do it, there is noth- 
ing like working singly ; when two or three men are 
engaged, there is always the risk of one being caught 
and turning queen’s evidence, or of there being a quarrel 
and of his peaching in revenge. 

“ If your man has been away from town, he has cer- 
196 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


197 


tainly not been working any one district ; of course, one 
gets the usual number of reports from different quarters, 
but, although burglaries are frequent enough, there has 
been no complaint of a sudden increase of such crimes, 
as there would have been, judging from the numerous 
daring attempts here, had Bastow been concerned ; 
therefore I feel sure he has been living quietly. He 
would have his mate’s share — that man you shot, you 
know — of the plunder they made together; he would 
know that after that affair at your place there would be 
a vigilant hunt for him, and it is likely enough that he 
has retired altogether from business for a time. 

“ However, men of that sort can never stand a quiet 
life long, and are sure sooner or later to take to their 
trade again, if only for the sake of its excitement. Now 
that the burglaries have begun again, I shall be glad if 
you will devote yourself entirely to this business. You 
have served a good apprenticeship, and, for our sake as 
well as yours, I should be glad for you to have it in 
hand.” 

“ I shall be very pleased to do so, sir. Although we 
do not know where he is to be found, I think I can say 
that it is not in the slums of London. It seems to me 
that he may be quietly settled as an eminently respect- 
able man almost under our noses. He may show him- 
self occasionally at fashionable resorts, and may be a 
regular attendant at horse-races. He would not run 
any appreciable risk in doing so, for his face is quite un- 
known to anyone except the constables who were present 
at his trial ; and even these would scarcely be likely to 
recognise him, for he was then but eighteen, while he is 


198 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


now six- or seven-and-twenty, and no doubt the life he 
has led must have changed him greatly.” 

“I quite agree with you,” the chief said. “After the 
first hunt for him was over, he might do almost anything 
without running much risk. Well, I put the matter in 
your hands, and leave it to you to work out in your own 
way. You have given ample proof of your shrewdness 
and pluck, and in this case especially I know that you 
will do everything that is possible. Of course, you will 
be relieved of all other duties, and if it takes you months 
before you can lay hands upon him, we shall consider it 
time well spent if you succeed at last. From time to 
time change your quarters, but let me know your address, 
so that, should I learn anything that may be useful, I can 
communicate with you at once. You had better take 
another name than that by which you are known in the 
force. I shall be glad if, after thinking the matter over, 
you will write me a few lines stating what you propose 
to do in the first place.” 

Mark went to his lodgings and sat there for some time 
thinking matters over. His first thought was to attend 
the races for a time, but owing to the number of people 
there, and his own ignorance of Bastow’s appearance, he 
abandoned that idea, and determined to try a slower but 
more methodical plan. Coming to that conclusion, he 
put on his hat and made his way to Mrs. Cunningham’s. 

“Well, Mr. Constable,” Millicent said, saucily, as he 
entered, “ any fresh captures ?” 

“No, I think that I have for the present done with 
that sort of thing ; I have served my apprenticeship, 
and am now setting up on my own account.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


199 


“ How is that, Mark?” 

“There is reason to believe that Bastow has begun 
his work again near London. As I have told you, it is 
absolutely certain that he is not hiding in any of the 
places frequented by criminals here, and there is every 
reason for supposing that he has been leading a quiet 
life somewhere, or that he has been away in the country. 
As long as that was the case, there was nothing to be 
done ; but now that he seems to have set to work again, 
it is time for me to be on the move. I have seen the 
chief this morning, and he has released me from all 
other duty and given me carte blanche to work in my 
own way.” 

“Then why don’t you leave the force altogether, 
Mark ? You know that I have always thought it hate- 
ful that you should be working under orders, like any 
other constable.” 

“ Of course, women don’t like to be under orders 
Millicent ; but men are not so independent, and are 
quite content to obey those who are well qualified to 
give orders. I have had a very interesting time of it.” 

“Very interesting!” she said, scornfully. “You 
have been nearly killed or shot half a dozen times ; 
you have been obliged to wear all sorts of dirty clothes, 
to sleep in places where one would not put a dog, and 
generally to do all sorts of things altogether unbecoming 
in your position.” 

“ My dear, I have no particular position,” he laughed, 
and then went on more seriously : “ My one position at 
present is that of avenger of my father’s murder, and 
nothing that can assist me in the task is unbecoming to 


200 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


me ; but, as I said, it has been interesting, I may almost 
say fascinating work. I used to be fond of hunting, 
but I can tell you that it is infinitely more exciting to 
hunt a man than it is to hunt a fox. You are your 
own hound, you have to pick up the scent, to follow it 
up, however much the quarry may wind and double, 
and when at last you lay your hand upon his shoulder 
and say, ‘ In the king’s name,’ there is an infinitely 
keener pleasure than there is when the hounds run 
down the fox. One sport is perhaps as dangerous as 
the other : in the one case your horse may fail at a leap 
and you may break your neck, in the other you may 
get a bullet in your head ; so in that respect there is 
not much to choose between man-hunting and fox- 
hunting. There is the advantage, though, that in the 
one you have to depend upon your horse’s strength, and 
in the other on your own courage.” 

“ I know that you are an enthusiast over it, Mark, and 
I can fancy that if I were a big, strong man, as you are, I 
might do the same ; but if you are going now to try by 
yourself, why should you not leave the force altogether ?” 

“ Because, in the first place, I shall get all the infor- 
mation they obtain, and can send for any assistance that 
I may require. In the next place, by showing this little 
staff with its silver crown, I show that I am a Bow Street 
runner, and can obtain information at once from all sorts 
of people which I could not get without its aid.” 

“Well, I won’t say anything more against it, Mark. 
How are you going to begin?” 

“ I mean to go the round of all the places near Lon- 
don, say within ten miles. I shall stay from a week to 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


201 


a fortnight in each, take a quiet lodging, give out that I 
am on the lookout for a small house with a garden, and 
get to talk with people of all kinds.” 

“But I cannot see what you have to enquire for.” 

“ I imagine that Bastow will have taken just the sort 
of house that I am enquiring for, and in the course of 
my questions I may hear of someone living in just that 
sort of way, — a retired life, not making many friends, 
riding up to London sometimes, and keeping, perhaps, 
a deaf old woman as a servant, or perhaps a deaf old 
man ; someone, you see, who would not be likely to 
hear him if he came home in the middle of the night, 
or in the early morning. Once I hear of such a man, 
I should ascertain his age, and whether generally he 
agreed in appearance with what Bastow is likely to be 
by this time ; then get down one of the constables who 
was at the trial, and take his opinion on the subject, after 
which we should only have to watch the house at night 
and pounce upon him as he came back from one of his 
excursions. That is the broad outline of my plan. I 
cannot help thinking that in the long run I shall be able 
to trace him, and of course it will make it all the easier 
if he takes to stopping coaches or committing murderous 
burglaries.” 

“ Then I suppose we are not going to see you often, 
Mark?” 

“ Well, not so often as you have done, Millicent, for 
some time, at any rate. I shall not be more than five or 
six miles away, and I shall often ride into town for the 
evening, and return late with some sort of hope that I 
may be stopped on the road again ; it would save me a 


202 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


world of trouble, you see, if he would come to me in- 
stead of my having to find him.” 

“Which side of London are you going to try first?” 

“The south side, certainly; there are a score of 
places that would be convenient to him, — Dulwich, 
Clapham, Tooting, Wimbledon, Stockwell ; the list is a 
long one. I should say Wimbledon was about the most 
distant, and I should think that he would not go so far 
as that ; if he only acts as a highwayman he might be as 
far off as Epsom ; but if he is really the man concerned 
in these burglaries he must be but a short distance away. 
He would hardly risk having to ride very far with the 
chance of coming upon the patrols. I think that I shall 
begin at Peckham ; that is a central sort of position, 
and from there I shall work gradually west ; before I 
do so, perhaps I shall try Lewisham. He is likely, in 
any case, to be quite on the outskirts of any village he 
may have settled in, in order that he may ride in and 
out at any hour without his coming and going being 
noticed.” 

“You certainly seem to have thought it over in all 
ways, Mark ; you almost infect me with your ardour, 
and make me wish that I were a man and could help 
you.” 

“You are much nicer as you are, Millicent.” 

The girl tossed her head in disdain at the compli- 
ment. 

“It is all very well, Mark,” she went on, ignoring his 
speech, “ but it seems to me that, in finding out things, 
a woman would be able to do just as much as a man ; 
she can gossip with her neighbours and ask about 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


203 

everyone in a place quite as well, if not better, than a 
man.” 

“Yes, I don’t doubt that,” Mark laughed, “and if I 
want your aid I shall have no hesitation in asking for it. 
Until then I hope you will go on with your painting 
and harping, steadily, like a good little girl.” 

“ I am nearly eighteen, sir, and I object to be called 
a good little girl.” 

“Well, if I were to say a good young woman, you 
would not like it.” 

“No, I don’t think I should. I don’t know why, 
but when anyone says a girl is a good young woman or 
a nice young woman, there always seems something 
derogatory about it ; it is almost as bad as saying she 
is a very respectable young person, which is odious.” 

“Then, you see,” he went on, “you are quite getting 
on in society ; since Mr. Cotter’s introduction to Mrs. 
Cunningham and his mother’s subsequent call you have 
got to know a good many people and go about a good 
deal.” 

“Yes, it has been more lively of late,” she admitted. 
“ At first it was certainly monstrously dull here, and I 
began to think that we should have to change our plans 
and go down again to Weymouth, and settle there for 
a time. Now I am getting contented ; but I admit that, 
even at the risk of making you conceited, we shall cer- 
tainly miss you very much, as you have been very good, 
considering how busy you have been, to come in three 
or four evenings every week for a chat.” 

“ There has been nothing very good about it, Milli- 
cent ; it has been very pleasant to me ; it is like a bit of 


204 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


old times again when I am here with you two, and one 
seems to have left all the excitement of one’s work 
behind as one comes in at the door.” 

“ I wonder whether the old time will ever come back 
again, Mark,” she said, sadly. 

“ It never can be quite the old time again, but when 
you are back at the old place it may be very near it.” 

She looked at him reproachfully. 

“You think that I shall change my mind, Mark, but 
at heart you know better. The day I am one-and- 
twenty I hope to carry out my intentions.” 

“ Well, as I have told you before, Millicent, I cannot 
control your actions, but I am at least master of my 
own. You can give away Crowswood to whom you 
like, but at least you cannot compel me to take it ; 
make it over to one of the hospitals if you like, that is 
within your power, but it is not in your power to force 
me into the mean action of enriching myself because 
you have romantic notions in your mind. I should 
scorn myself were I capable of doing such an action. 
I wonder you think so meanly of me as to suppose for 
a moment that I would do so.” 

“ It is a great pity my father did not leave the 
property outright to your father, then all this bother 
would have been avoided,” she said, quietly. “ I 
should still have had plenty to live upon without 
there being any fear of being loved merely for my 
money.” 

“ It would have been the same thing if he had,” Mark 
said, stubbornly. “ My father would not have taken it, 
and I am sure that I should not have taken it after him. 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


205 


You are his proper heiress. I don’t say, if he had left a 
son, and that son had been a second Bastow, that one 
would have hesitated, for he would probably have gam- 
bled it away in a year, the tenants might have been 
ruined, and the village gone to the dogs. Every man 
has a right to disinherit an unworthy son, but that is a 
very different thing from disinheriting a daughter simply 
from a whim. Well, don’t let us talk about it any more, 
Millicent. It is the only thing that we don’t agree about, 
and therefore it is best left alone.” 

The next day Mark established himself at an inn in 
Peckham, and for six weeks made diligent enquiries, but 
without success. There were at least a dozen men who 
lived quietly and rode or drove to their business in town. 
Many of them were put aside as needing no investiga- 
tion, having been residents there for years. Some of the 
others he saw start or return, but none of them corre- 
sponded in any way with the probable appearance of the 
man for whom he was in search. During this time he 
heard of several private coaches being held up on the 
road between Epsom and London, and three burglaries 
took place at Streatham. 

He then moved to Stockwell. Before proceeding 
there he had his horse up again from Crowswood and 
rode into Stockwell from the west. He was dressed 
now as a small country squire, and had a valise 
strapped behind his saddle. The inn there was a busy 
one. 

“I want a room,” he said, as he alighted. “I shall 
probably stay here a few days.” 

Presently he had a talk with the landlord. 


206 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

“I am on the lookout,” he said, “ for a little place 
near town. I have come in for a small estate in the 
country, but I have no taste for farming, and want to be 
within easy reach of town, and at the same time to have 
a place with a paddock where I can keep my horse and 
live quietly. I don’t much care whether it is here or 
anywhere else within a few miles of town, and I intend 
to ride about and see if I can find a place that will suit 
me. I should not like to be nearer the town than this, 
for I have not money enough to go the pace ; still, I 
should like to be near enough to ride or walk in when- 
ever I have a fancy for it.” 

“I understand, sir. Of course there are plenty of 
places round here, at Clapham and Tooting, and I may 
say Streatham, but most of them are a deal too large for 
a bachelor ; still, I have no doubt you would find a place 
to suit you without much difficulty. These sort of places 
are most in request by London tradesmen who have 
given up business and want to get a little way out of 
town and keep a gig. I should say there must be a 
score of such people living round here. I am often 
asked about such places, but I don’t know of one to let 
just at the present moment. 

“ Still, there ought to be, for of late people have not 
cared so much to come out here ; there has been such a 
scare owing to highwaymen and burglars that men with 
wives and families don’t fancy settling out of town, 
though there ain’t much risk about it, for to every one 
house that is broken into there are thousands that are 
not, and, besides, the houses that these fellows try are 
large places, where there is plenty of silver plate and 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


207 

a few gold watches, and perhaps some money, to be 
had.” 

Mark soon made the acquaintance of the stablemen, 
and a few pints of beer put them on good terms with 
him. Every day he took rides round the neighbour- 
hood, going out early, stabling his horse, and after 
having a chat with the ostlers, strolled round the place. 
Clapham, Ewell, and Streatham were also visited. 

“I know of a place that would just suit you,” the 
ostler at the Greyhound at Streatham said to him, on 
the occasion of his third visit there, “ but it is let ; my 
old mother is the gentleman’s housekeeper. He took 
the place through me, for he rode up just as you have 
done, one afternoon, nigh a year ago. He was from 
town, he was; he told me that he had been going the 
pace too hard and had to pull in, and wanted a little 
place where he could keep his horse and live quiet for a 
time. I told him of a place that I thought would suit 
him just outside the town, and he called in the next 
day and told me that he had taken it. ‘ Now,’ he said, 
‘ I want a woman as housekeeper ; an old woman, you 
know. I cannot be bothered with a young ’un. If 
you speak to a wench she is soon fancying that you 
are in love with her. I want one who can cook a 
chop or a steak, fry me a bit of bacon, and boil an egg 
and keep the place tidy. I intend to look after my 
horse myself.’ 

“ ‘Well, sir,’ I said, ‘there is my old mother. She is 
a widow, and it is as much as she can do to keep off 
the parish. She is reckoned a tidy cook and a good 
cleaner, and she could keep herself well enough if it 


208 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


wasn’t that she is so hard of hearing that many people 
don’t care to employ her.’ 

“ ‘ I don’t care a rap about that,’ he said. ‘ I shall 
not need to talk to her except to tell her what I will 
have for dinner, and if she is deaf she won’t want to be 
away gossiping. Does she live near here ?’ 

“ ‘ She lives in the town,’ I said. 4 1 can fetch her 
down in half an hour.’ 

“ ‘ That will do,’ says he. ‘ I am going to have lunch. 
When I have done I will come out and speak with 
her.’ 

“Well, sir, he engaged her right off, and he tipped 
me a guinea for finding the place for him, and there he 
has been ever since. It was a lucky job for mother, for 
she says there never was a gentleman that gave less 
trouble. He is a wonderful quiet man, and in general 
stops at home all the day smoking and reading. He 
has a boy come in two or three times a week to work 
in the garden. Sometimes of an evening he rides up 
to town. I expect he cannot keep away from the cards 
altogether.” 

“Is he an elderly man ?” Mark asked. 

“ Lor’, no, sir ; under thirty, I should say. He is a 
free-handed sort of chap, and though he ain’t particu- 
lar about his eating, he likes a bottle of good wine, the 
old woman says, even if it is only with a chop. He 
never rides past here and I happen to be outside with- 
out tossing me a shilling to drink his health.” 

Mark went into the house and ordered lunch. It 
would not have done to have asked any more questions 
or to have shown any special interest in the matter, but 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


209 


he felt so excited that he could not have avoided doing 
so had he waited longer with the ostler. After he 
had finished his meal he strolled out again into the 
stable yard. 

“Well,” he said to the ostler, “can’t you put me up 
to another good thing, just as you told that gentleman 
you were speaking to me about?” 

“ There are two or three places that I know of that 
might suit you, sir. There is a house on the hill. I 
know that it has got a paddock, but I don’t know how 
big it is ; it is in general known as Hawleys, that is the 
name of the last people who lived there. Anyone will 
tell you which is the house. Then there is another 
place. You turn to the right the third turning on the 
hill ; it stands by itself two or three hundred yards 
down ; it has got a goodish bit of ground. There is 
only one house beyond it ; that is the one where my 
mother lives. That was an old farm once, but this was 
built later. I believe the ground belonged to the farm ; 
you will know it by a big tree in front of it ; it stands 
back forty feet or so from the road.” 

“Where does the road lead to?” 

“Well, sir, it ain’t much of a road beyond the next 
house ; it is only a lane, but you can get through that 
way into the main road, through Tooting down into 
Balham, and on to Wimbledon.” 

“ I think I will go and have a look at both those 
places,” Mark said. 

“ Will you take your horse, sir?” 

“ No, I suppose it is not much above half a mile.” 

“ About that, sir.” 


14 


210 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ Then I will walk ; I shall not be likely to find any- 
one to hold my horse there.” 

Mark had no difficulty in finding the house. It looked 
as if it had been untenanted for some time, and in the 
window was a notice that for keys and information ap- 
plications were to be made at a shop in the High Street. 
Well pleased to find that there was no one in the house, 
Mark entered the gate and passed round into what at 
one time had been a kitchen-garden behind it ; at the 
bottom of this was a field of three or four acres. 

The ground was separated by a hedge from that of 
the next house beyond. This was fully a hundred yards 
away. A well-bred horse was grazing in the field ; a man 
smoking a pipe was watching a boy doing gardening 
work behind the house. Mark remained for nearly an 
hour concealed behind the hedge in hopes that he would 
come nearer. At the end of that time, however, he 
went into the house, and after waiting another ten min- 
utes Mark also left, resisting the temptation to walk 
along the road and take a closer look at it, for he felt 
that such a step would be dangerous, for should the 
man notice anyone looking at the place his suspicions 
might be aroused. 

It was evident that the lane was very little used ; in 
many cases the grass grew across it. There were marks 
of horse’s feet, but none of wheels, and he concluded 
that when going up to town the man came that way and 
rode quietly through Streatham, for the hoof-prints all 
pointed in that direction, and that on his return at night 
he came up the lane from the other road. 

“Well, master, what do you think of the houses?” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


21 I 


“ I have only been to the one in the lane that you 
spoke of, for I want to get back to town. I had a good 
look at it, but it is rather a dreary-looking place, and 
evidently wants a lot of repairs before it can be made 
comfortable. The next time that I am down I will look 
at the other.” 

Mounting his horse, he rode at a rapid pace into Lon- 
don, and dismounted at Bow Street. 

“You have news, I see, Mr. Thorndyke,” the chief 
said, when he entered. 

“ I have, sir ; I believe that I have marked the man 
down ; at any rate, if it is not he, it is a criminal of some 
sort — of that I have no doubt.” 

“That is good news, indeed,” the chief said. “Now 
tell me all about it.” 

Mark repeated the story the ostler had told him, and 
the result of his own observations. 

“You see,” he said, “the man, whether Bastow or 
not, has clearly taken the place for the purpose of con- 
cealment, for he can approach it by the lane, which is a 
very unfrequented one, on his return from his expedi- 
tions. He has taken on a deaf old woman, who will not 
hear him ride in at night, and will have no idea at what 
hours he comes home. Riding out through the main 
street in the afternoon he would excite no notice, and 
the story to the ostler would very well account for his 
taking the house and for his habit of coming up here of 
an afternoon and returning late. I thought it best to 
come back and tell you, and I will adopt any plan that 
you suggest for his capture.” 

“You say that he has been there for nearly a year?” 


212 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ About a year, the ostler said.” 

“ Then one of my men, at least, must have been very 
careless not to have found him out long ago. Let 
me see.” And he took down a volume of reports. 
“Streatham. Tomlinson has been here a fortnight 
making every enquiry. ‘ No man of suspicious appear- 
ance or of unknown antecedents here.’ Humph ! That 
is not the first time that Tomlinson has failed altogether 
in his duty. However, that does not matter for the 
moment. What is your own idea, Mr. Thorndyke ?” 

“ My idea is that a couple of good men should go down 
with me to Streatham, and that we should be always on 
the watch in High Street until we see him ride past. 
Directly it is dark we will go to his house, fasten the old 
woman up, and search it thoroughly. If we find stolen 
property, so much the better ; but in any case we shall 
wait inside the house until he returns, and as he comes 
in throw ourselves upon him before he has time to draw 
a pistol. I should say it would be as well the men 
should go down in a trap. There is an empty house 
next door, and when we go to search the place we can 
leave the horse and trap inside the gate. Directly we 
have him secure we can fetch up the trap, put him in, 
and one of the men and myself can drive him back here, 
leaving the other in charge of the house, which can then 
be searched again next day.” 

“ I think that will be a very good plan, and will avoid 
all unnecessary fuss. I will send Malcolm and Chester 
down with you to-morrow. Where will you meet them ?” 

“I should say that they had better put up at the 
Greyhound. I don’t suppose he will go out until six or 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


213 

seven o’clock, but they had better be there earlier. One 
should station himself in the main street, the other con- 
cealing himself somewhere beyond the fellow’s house, 
for it is likely enough that sometimes he may take the 
other way. I will go down to the Greyhound at six, 
and will wait there until one of them brings me the news 
that he has left.” 

“ I think you had better come in in the morning, and 
give your instructions to the men ; there will be less fear 
of any mistake being made. I should say you had bet- 
ter come in on foot ; one can never be too careful when 
one is dealing with so crafty a rogue as this ; he cer- 
tainly does not work with an accomplice ; but, for all 
that, he may have two or three sharp boys in his pay, 
and they may watch this place by turns and carry him 
news of any stir about the office.” 

“I will walk in,” Mark replied. “It is no distance 
from Stockwell.” 

Mark slept but little that night. He had believed all 
along that he should be finally successful, but the dis- 
covery had come so suddenly that it had taken him com- 
pletely by surprise. It might not be the man, and he 
tried hard to persuade himself that the chances were 
against his being so, so that he should not feel disap- 
pointed should it turn out that it was some other crimi- 
nal, for that the man was a criminal he had not a shadow 
of doubt. 

The next morning he was at the office early. The 
chief arrived half an hour later, and the two officers were 
at once called in. 

“You will go with Mr. Thorndyke,” the chief said, 


214 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“and he will give you instructions. The capture is a 
very important one, and there must be no mistake made. 
We believe the man to be Bastow. I think you were 
present at his trial, Chester ; he escaped from Sydney 
Convict Prison some three years ago, and is, I believe, 
the author of many of the highway robberies and bur- 
glaries that have puzzled us so. Of course, you will 
take fire-arms, but if he is alone you will certainly have 
no occasion to use them, especially as you will take him 
completely by surprise. You will order a gig from 
Morden and leave here about three o’clock. I should 
say you had better get up as two countrymen, who have 
been up to market. However, Mr. Thorndyke will ex- 
plain the whole matter to you fully.” 

Mark then went off with the two officers to a private 
room, and went into the whole matter with them. 

“I think, Chester,” he said, “that you had better 
watch in the High Street, because you know the man. 
At least, you have seen him, and may recognise him 
again.” 

“ I think I should know him, however much he has 
changed. I took particular notice of him at the trial, 
and thought what a hardened-looking scamp he was. It 
is very seldom I forget a face when I once have a good 
look at it, and I don’t think I am likely to forget his.” 

“ Malcolm, I think you cannot do better than take 
your place in the garden of the house next to his ; it is 
a place that has stood empty for many months, and 
there is no chance of anyone seeing you. His paddock 
comes up to the garden, and you can, by placing your- 
self in the corner, see him as he comes out into the 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


215 


lane. As soon as you see that he has gone, come back 
to the Greyhound with the news. I shall be there, and 
you will pick up Chester in the High Street as you 
come along ; of course you won’t pretend to know me, 
but the mere fact of your coming back will be enough 
to tell me that he has gone. As soon as it gets dark you 
will pay your reckoning and drive off in the gig ; lead 
it into the drive in front of the house this side of his. 
I shall have strolled off before, and shall be waiting for 
you there. If he does not come out by ten o’clock, 
we can give it up for to-night. You had better say 
that you have changed your mind and will take beds 
at the Greyhound ; and the next morning drive off in 
your gig and put up again at the inn at the other end 
of the town, the White Horse. I will come over again 
at two o’clock in the afternoon. You will bring hand- 
cuffs, and you had better also bring a stout rope to tie 
him with.” 

When every detail had been arranged Mark strolled 
to Dick Chetwynd’s lodgings. 

“Well, Mark, what has become of you? I have not 
seen you for the last two months, and I hear that you 
have not been near Ingleston’s crib since I saw you.” 

“No, I have been away on business. You know I 
told you that I was spending much of my time in en- 
deavouring to hunt down my father’s murderer. I can 
tell you now that I have been working all the time with 
the Bow Street people, and I think I know every thieves’ 
slum in London as well as any constable in the town.” 

“You don’t say so, Mark. Well, I should not like 
such work as that. The prize-fighters are a pretty 


216 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


rough lot, but to go to such dens as those is enough to 
make one shudder. But that does not explain where 
you have been now.” 

“No. Well, having persuaded myself at last that 
his head-quarters were not in town, I have been trying 
the villages round, and I believe that I have laid my 
hands on him at last.” 

“ You don’t say so, Mark. Well, I congratulate you 
heartily, both on your having caught the fellow and for 
having got rid of such horrid work. Where is he? 
Have you got him lodged in gaol ?” 

“ No, we are going to capture him to-night ; or if not 
to-night, to-morrow night. Two of the Bow Street 
officers are going down with me, and we shall have 
him as he comes home from one of his expeditions 
either on the highway or as a housebreaker. If he 
does not go this evening we shall wait until to-morrow, 
but, at any rate, the first time that he goes out we shall 
have him.” 

“ I have got a special engagement for this evening, 
Mark, or I would offer to go with you and lend you a 
hand, if necessary.” 

“There is no occasion for that, Dick. We shall 
take the fellow by surprise as he goes into his own 
house, and have him handcuffed before he can draw a 
pistol. Then, when we have got him fairly tied up, we 
shall put him into a light cart that we shall have handy 
and bring him straight to Bow Street. To tell you the 
truth, I am so excited over the thought that I do not 
know how I should have got through the day if I had 
not come in to have a chat with you.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


217 


“ I can quite understand that, old fellow. Well, the 
best thing we can do is to take a stroll out and look at 
the fashions. It is early yet, but just at present it is all 
the rage to turn out early. It will do me good too, for 
I was at Ingleston’s last night, and the smoke and row 
has given me a headache. I shall really have to give 
up going there, except when there is an important fight 
on. It is too much to stand, and the tobacco is so bad 
that I am obliged to keep a suit of clothes for the pur- 
pose. Let us be off at once.” 



CHAPTER XV. 

A T four o’clock Mark put up his horse at the Grey- 
hound, and chatted for a quarter of an hour with 
the ostler, who had been making enquiries, and 
had heard of one or two other houses in the neighbour- 
hood which were untenanted. Mark then strolled up 
the town, exchanging a passing glance with Chester, 
who, in a velveteen coat, low hat, and gaiters, was chat- 
ting with a waggoner going with a load of hay for the 
next morning’s market in London. He turned into an 
inn, called for a pint of the best port, and sat down in the 
parlour at a table close to the window, so that he could 
see all who went up or down. He entered into conver- 
sation with two or three people who came in, and so 
passed the time till six, when he felt too restless to sit 
still longer, and went out into the street. 

When he was half-way to the Greyhound he heard the 
sound of a horse’s hoofs behind him, and saw a quietly 
dressed man coming along at an easy trot. Had it not 
been that he recognised the horse, he could not have felt 
218 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


219 


sure that its rider was the man whose coming he had 
been waiting for, there being nothing in his appearance 
that would excite the slightest suspicion that he was 
other than a gentleman of moderate means and quiet 
taste, either returning from a ride or passing through on 
his way to town. He had a well-built and active figure, 
carried himself with the ease of a thorough horseman, 
and nodded to one or two persons of his acquaintance, 
and, checking his horse at the principal butcher’s, 
ordered some meat to be sent in that evening. 

Mark could trace no resemblance in the face to that 
of the young fellow he remembered. It was a quiet and 
resolute one. If this were Bastow, he had lost the sneer- 
ing and insolent expression that was so strongly im- 
pressed on his memory. It might be the man, but if so 
he was greatly changed. Mark’s first impression was 
that it could not be Bastow, but, when he thought over 
the years of toil and confinement in the convict prison, 
the life he had led in the bush, and the two years he had 
passed since he returned home, he imagined that the 
insolence of youth might well have disappeared and 
been succeeded by the resolute daring and the dogged 
determination that seemed to be impressed on this fel- 
low’s face. 

Mark paused fifty yards before he reached the inn. 
In a few moments he saw Chester coming along. There 
was no one else in sight. 

“Is it Bastow?” he asked, as the officer came up. 

“ It’s Bastow, sure enough, sir. But he is so changed 
that if I had not had him in my mind I should not have 
recognised him. I calculate that a man who has gone 


220 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


through what he has would have lost the expression he 
had as a boy. He must have learnt a lot in the con- 
vict prison, and the fact that he headed the mutiny 
and escaped from the searchers and managed to get 
home showed that he must have become a resolute and 
desperate man. All those burglaries and the way in 
which he has several times stopped coaches single- 
handed show his nerve and coolness. I had all that in 
my mind as he came along, and his face was pretty 
much what I expected to see it. He is a cool hand, 
and I can understand how he has given us the slip so 
long. There is none of the shifty look about his eyes 
that one generally sees in criminals ; no glancing from 
side to side. He rode with the air of a man who had a 
right to be where he was and feared no one. He will 
be an awkward customer to tackle if we do not take 
him by surprise.” 

“Yes, I agree with you there. However, he won’t 
have much chance of using either his pistols or his 
strength. Here is Malcolm coming, so I will walk away 
for a few minutes and let you go in first. You can tell 
the ostler now that you will have your horse put in at 
nine o’clock. I have been thinking, by the way, that 
we had better take the trap round behind the house in- 
stead of leaving it in the drive. The man may come 
back this way, and, if so, he might hear the horse 
stamp or make some movement, and that would at once 
put him on his guard.” 

As the officers entered the inn, Mark went into the 
yard and told the ostler that he had met some friends 
and should let his horse remain there for the night. 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


221 


“ It is possible that they may drive me into the town 
in the morning,” he said; “and I shall very likely send 
a man down for the horse.” 

At a quarter to nine he went out again, and walked 
to the house he had before visited ; in ten minutes he 
heard the sound of wheels, threw open the gate, and 
the men, jumping down, led the horse in. 

“You may as well take him out of the trap,” he said. 
“ We cannot very well get that round the house, but 
there is no difficulty about taking the horse.” 

The officers had brought a halter and a nose- bag full 
of corn. The horse was fastened to a tree with soft 
ground round it, the nose-bag put on, and a horse-cloth 
thrown over its back ; then Mark and his two compan- 
ions went out into the lane, and in a couple of minutes 
entered the next gate, treading lightly and going round 
to the back of the house. 

A light burnt in the kitchen, and an old woman could 
be seen knitting. They lifted the latch and walked in. 
Dropping her knitting, she rose with an exclamation of 
terror. 

Mark advanced alone. 

“ Do not be frightened,” he said, “ we are not going 
to do you any harm.” He took out his little ebony 
staff! “We are constables,” he went on, “and have 
orders to search this house. We must secure you, but 
you will be released in the morning. Now, which is 
your room ?” 

In spite of Mark’s assurance, the old woman was 
almost paralysed with terror. However, the two con- 
stables assisted her up to her room, and there secured 


222 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


her with a rope, taking care that it was not so tightly 
bound as to hurt her. Then they placed a gag in her 
mouth and left her. 

“ Now, let us search his room in the first place,” Mark 
said, when they came downstairs again. “ I hardly ex- 
pect we shall find anything. You may be sure that he 
will have taken great pains to hide away any booty that 
he may have here, and that it will need daylight and a 
closer search than we can give the place now before we 
find anything.” 

The search of the house was, indeed, fruitless. They 
cut open the bed, prised up every loose board in the 
bedroom and the parlour, lifted the hearth-stone, tapped 
the walls, and searched every drawer ; then, faking a lan- 
tern, went out into the stable. The officers were both 
accustomed to look for hiding-places, and ran their 
hands along on the top of the walls, examining the stone 
flooring and manger. 

“That is a very large corn-bin,” Mark said, as he 
looked round, when they desisted from the search. 

“You are right, sir ; we will empty it.” 

There were two or three empty sacks on the ground 
near it, and they emptied the corn into these, so that 
there should be no litter about. Chester gave an excla- 
mation of disappointment as they reached the bottom. 
Mark put his hand on the bin and gave it a pull. 

“ It is just as I thought,” he said. “ It is fastened 
down. I saw an axe in the woodshed, Malcolm ; just 
fetch it here.” 

While the man was away Mark took the lantern and 
examined the bottom closely. “We shan’t want the 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


223 


axe,” he said, as he pointed out to Chester a piece of 
string that was apparently jammed in the form of a loop 
between the bottom and side. “Just get in and clear 
those few handfuls of corn out. I think you will see 
that it will pull up then.” 

There was, however, no movement in the bottom 
when Mark pulled at the loop. 

“ Look closely round outside,” he said, handing Mal- 
colm, who had now returned, the lantern. “ I have no 
doubt that there is a catch somewhere.” 

In a minute or two the constable found a small ring 
between two of the cobble-stones close to the foot of 
the wall. He pulled at it, and as he did so Mark felt 
the resistance to his pull cease suddenly and the bottom 
of the bin came up like a trap-door. 

“That is a clever hiding-place,” he said. “If I had 
not happened to notice that the bin was fixed we 
might have had a long search before we found it here.” 

Below was a square hole, the size of the bin ; a 
ladder led down into it. Mark, with a lantern, de- 
scended. Four or five sacks piled on each other lay 
at the bottom, leaving just room enough for a man to 
stand beside them. 

“The top one is silver by the feel,” he said, “not yet 
broken up; these smaller sacks are solid ; I suppose it is 
silver that has been melted down. This,” and he lifted 
a bag some eighteen inches deep, opened it, and looked 
in, “contains watches and jewels. Now, I think we 
will leave things here for the present and put everything 
straight. He may be back before long.” Mark as- 
cended, the bottom of the trap was shut down again, 


224 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


the corn poured in and the bags thrown down on the 
spot from which they had been taken. They returned 
to the house, shut the door, and extinguished the light. 

“That has been a grand find,” he said ; “even if this 
is not Bastow, it will be a valuable capture.” 

“ That it will, Mr. Thorndyke. I have no doubt that 
this fellow is the man we have been in search of for the 
last eighteen months ; that accounts for our difficulty in 
laying hold of him ; he has been too careful to try to 
sell any of the plunder that he has got, so that none of 
the fences should know anything about him. No doubt 
he has taken sufficient cash to enable him to live here 
quietly. He intended some time or other to melt down 
all the rest of the plate and to sell the silver, which he 
could do easily enough. As for the watches and jewels, 
he could get rid of them abroad.” 

“No doubt that is what he intended,” Mark agreed. 
“ It is not often these fellows are as prudent as he has 
been ; if they were, your work would be a good deal 
more difficult than it is.” 

“You are right, sir; I don’t know that I ever heard 
of such a case before. The fellow almost deserves to 
get away.” 

“That would be rewarding him too highly for his 
caution,” Mark laughed. “ He is a desperate villain, 
and all the more dangerous for being a prudent one. 
Now, I think one of us had better keep watch at the 
gate by turns. We shall hear him coming in plenty of 
time to get back here and be in readiness for him ; 
mind, we each understand our part. I will stand facing 
the door. It is possible that he may light that lantern 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


225 


that we saw hanging in the stable, but I don’t think it 
likely that he will do so ; he will take off the saddle, 
and either take the horse in there — there is plenty of 
food in the manger — or else turn it out into the pad- 
dock. As he comes in I will throw my arms round 
him and you will at once close in, one on each side, 
each catch an arm tightly, handcuff him, and take the 
pistols from his belt ; don’t let go of his arms until I 
have lit the candle, he may have another pistol inside 
his coat and might draw it.” 

It was now one o’clock, and half an hour later Malcolm, 
who was at the gate, came in quietly and said he could 
hear a horse coming along the lane. 

“ Which way, Malcolm ?’ ’ 

“Tooting way.” 

“That is all right. I have been a little nervous that 
our horse might make some slight noise and attract his 
attention ; that was our only weak point.” 

They had already ascertained that the front door was 
locked and bolted, and that he must therefore enter 
through the kitchen. They heard the horse stop in 
front ; a moment later the gate was opened, and through 
the window they could just make out the figure of a 
man leading a horse, then the stable-door opened, and 
they heard a movement and knew that the horse was 
being unsaddled ; they heard it walk into the stable, the 
door was shut behind it, and a step approached the back 
door. It was opened, and a voice said, with an oath, 
“The old fool has forgotten to leave a candle burning.” 
Then he stepped into the kitchen. 

In an instant there was the sound of a violent struggle, 

15 


226 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


deep oaths and curses, two sharp clicks, then all was 
quiet except heavy breathing and the striking of flint 
on a tinder-box ; there was the blue glare of the sulphur 
match, and a candle was lighted. Mark then turned to 
the man who was standing still grasped in the hands of 
his two captors. 

“ Arthur Bastow,” he said, producing his staff, “ I 
arrest you, in the king’s name, as an escaped convict, 
as a notorious highwayman and house-breaker.” 

As his name was spoken the man started ; then he said, 
quietly, — 

“You have made a mistake this time, my men ; my 
name is William Johnson ; I am well known here, and 
have been a quiet resident in this house for upwards of 
a year.” 

“A resident, but not a quiet resident, Bastow. I 
don’t think we are mistaken ; but even if you can prove 
that you are not Bastow, but William Johnson, a man 
of means and family, we have evidence enough upon 
the other charges. We have been in search of you for 
a long time, and have got you at last. You don’t re- 
member me, though it is but eighteen months since we 
met ; but I fancy that I then left a mark upon you that 
still remains on your shoulder. I am Mark Thorndyke, 
and you will understand now why I have hunted you 
down.” 

“The game is not finished yet,” the man said, reck- 
lessly. “ The hunting down will be the other way next 
time, Mark Thorndyke.” 

“I don’t think so. Now, Chester, you may as well 
tie his feet together and then search him. When that 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


227 

is done I will look after him while you fetch the trap 
round.” 

In his pockets were found two gold watches, £48 in 
gold, and ^100 in bank-notes. 

“We shall hear where this comes from to-morrow,” 
Malcolm said, as he laid them on the table. ‘ ‘ It will 
save us the trouble of getting evidence from Australia.” 

The prisoner was placed in a chair, and then the two 
officers went out to fetch the trap round. 

“So you have turned thief-catcher, have you,” he 
said, in a sneering tone, that recalled him to Mark’s 
memory far more than his face had done, “ and you carry 
a Bow Street staff about with you, and pretend to belong 
to the force ; that is a punishable offence, you know.” 

“Yes, it would be if I had no right to use it,” Mark 
said, quietly ; “ but it happens that I have a right, having 
been for a year and a half in the force. I joined it 
solely to hunt you down, and now that I have done so 
my resignation will be sent in to-morrow.” 

“And how is the worthy Squire?” 

Mark started to his feet and seized one of the pistols 
lying before him. 

“You villain!” he exclaimed; “I wonder you dare 
mention his name — you, his murderer.” 

“ It was but tit for tat,” the man said, coolly ; “ he mur- 
dered me, body and soul, when he sent me to the hulks. 
I told him I would be even with him. I did not think 
I had hit him at the time, for I thought that if I had 
you would have stopped with him, and would not have 
chased me across the fields.” 

“You scoundrel!” Mark said. 


“You know well 


228 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


enough that you came back, stole into his room, and 
stabbed him.” 

Bastow looked at him with a puzzled expression. 

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said. 
“ I fired at him through the window, — I don’t mind say- 
ing so to you, because I know that you have no wit- 
nesses, — saw him jump up, but I fancied I had missed 
him. I saw you bolt out of the room, and thought it 
better to be off at once instead of taking another shot ; 
you gave me a hard chase. It was lucky for you that 
you did not come up with me, for if you had done so I 
should have shot you ; I owed you one for having killed 
as good a comrade as man ever had, and for that bullet 
you put in my shoulder before. If I had not been so 
out of breath that I could not feel sure of my aim I 
should have stopped for you, but I rode straight to 
town.” 

“A likely story,” Mark said, shortly. “What! you 
will pretend that there were two murderers hanging 
round the house that night ; a likely tale, indeed.” 

“ I tell you that if your father was killed by a knife 
or dagger, I had nothing to do with it,” the man said. 
“ I am obliged to the man, whoever he was. I had in- 
tended to go down again to Reigate to finish the job 
myself; I should scarcely have missed a second time. 
So it is for that you hunted me down. Well, I don’t 
blame you ; I never forgive an injury, and I see your 
sentiments are mine. Whether I killed your father or 
not makes no difference ; he was killed, that is the prin- 
cipal point ; if I were going to be put on my trial for that 
I could prove that at eight o’clock I was in a coffee-house 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


229 


in Covent Garden. I purposely kicked up a row there 
and was turned out, so that if I were charged with that 
shooting affair I could prove that I was in London that 
evening.” 

“ I can quite believe that,” Mark said ; “a fast horse 
would have brought you up to town in an hour and a 
half, and another fast horse would have taken you back 
again as quickly ; so you might have been in London at 
eight and back again at Crowswood by half-past twelve 
or one, even if you stopped a couple of hours at a cof- 
fee-house. However, you won’t be tried for that. Those 
things on the table and the contents of that corn-bin are 
enough to hang you a dozen times.” 

“ Curse you, have you found that out?” Bastow ex- 
claimed, furiously. 

“We have,” Mark replied. “It would have been 
wiser if you had got rid of your things sooner. It was 
a clever hiding-place, but it is always dangerous to keep 
snch things by you, Bastow.” 

The man said no more, but sat quietly in his chair 
until they heard the vehicle stop outside the gate. Then 
the two constables came in and, lifting Bastow, carried 
him out and placed him in the bottom of the cart. 

“You can loose the old woman now, Malcolm,” 
Mark said, as he took his seat and gathered the reins 
in his hand. “ By eleven o’clock no doubt one of the 
others will be down with the gig again, and you can 
empty out the contents of that hole and bring them up 
with you. I don’t think that it will be of any use 
searching farther. You might have a good look all 
round before you come away. There may be some notes 


230 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


stowed away, though it is likely enough that they have 
been sent away by post to some receiver abroad.” 

For some time after starting they could hear the 
prisoner moving about uneasily in the straw. 

“ I suppose there is no fear of his slipping out of 
those handcuffs, Chester?” 

“Not a bit ; they are full tight for him. I expect 
that that is what is making him uncomfortable.” 

Presently the movement ceased. 

“ He is still enough now, Mr. Thorndyke. I should 
not be at all surprised if he has dropped off to sleep. 
He is hardened enough to sleep while the gibbet was 
waiting for him.” 

It was four o’clock in the morning when they drove 
up at Bow Street. Two constables on duty came out 
to the cart. 

“We have got a prisoner, inspector,” Chester said. 
“ He is the man we have been looking for so long. I 
fancy we have got all the swag that has been stolen for 
the last eighteen months — bags of jewels and watches, 
and sacks of silver. He is handcuffed and his legs are 
tied, so we must carry him in.” 

The officer fetched out a lantern. The other consta- 
ble helped him to let down the back board of the cart. 

“Now, Bastow, wake up,” Chester said; “here we 
are.” 

But there was no movement. 

“ He is mighty sound asleep,” the constable said. 

“Well, haul him out.” And taking the man by the 
shoulders they pulled him out from the cart. 

“There is something rum about him,” the constable 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


231 


said ; and as they lowered his feet to the pavement his 
head fell forward, and he would have sunk down if they 
had not supported him. 

The inspector raised the lantern to his face. 

“ Why, the man is dead,” he said. 

“ Dead !” Chester repeated, incredulously. 

“Ay, that he is. Look here,” and he pointed to a 
slim steel handle some three inches long, projecting 
over the region of the heart. “You must have 
searched him very carelessly, Chester. Well, bring 
him in now.” 

They carried him into the room, where two candles 
were burning. Mark followed them. The inspector 
pulled out the dagger, the blade of which was but four 
inches long and very thin. The handle was little thicker 
than the blade itself. Mark took it and examined it. 

“ I have not a shadow of doubt that this is the 
dagger with which he murdered my father. The 
wound was very narrow, about this width, and the 
doctor said that the weapon that had been used was 
certainly a foreign dagger.” 

“ I don’t think this is a foreign dagger,” the inspector 
said on examining it, “ although it may be the one that 
was used, as you say, Mr. Thorndyke. It has evidently 
been made to carry about without being observed.” 

He threw back the dead man’s coat. 

“Ah, here is where it was kept. You see the lining 
has been sewn to the cloth, so as to make a sheath 
down by the seam under the arm. I expect that, 
knowing what would happen if he were caught, he had 
made up his mind to do it all along. Well, I don’t 


232 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


know that you are to be so much blamed, Chester, for, 
passing your hand over his clothes, you might very well 
miss this, which is no thicker than a piece of whale- 
bone. Well, well, he has saved us a good deal of 
trouble. You say you have got most of the booty he 
has collected.” 

“ I don’t know that we have got all of it, sir, but we 
have made a very big haul, anyhow ; it was a cunningly 
contrived place. There was a big corn-bin in the stable, 
and when we had emptied out the corn it seemed 
empty. However, Mr. Thorndyke discovered that 
the bin was fixed. Then we found that the bottom 
was really a trap-door, and under it was a sort of well 
in which were sacks and bags. One of the sacks was 
full of unbroken silver, two others contained silver 
ingots, things that he had melted down, and there was 
a large bag full of watches and jewels. In his pocket 
we found ^ioo in bank notes, about fifty guineas, and 
a couple of gold watches.” 

“That he must have got to-night from the Portsmouth 
coach ; we heard half an hour ago that it had been 
stopped near Kingston, the coachman shot, and the 
passengers robbed. It will be good news to some of 
them that we have got hold of their valuables. Well, 
Mr. Thorndyke, I have to congratulate you most heartily 
on the skill with which you have ferreted out a man who 
had baffled us for so long, and had become a perfect 
terror to the south of London. No doubt we shall be 
able to trace a great portion of the property in that sack. 
The capture has been splendidly effected.” 

“You will understand,” Mark said, “that I do not 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


233 


wish my name to appear in the matter at all. I have, 
as you know, been actuated by private reasons only in 
my search, and I see no occasion why my name should 
be mentioned ; the evidence of Chester and Malcolm 
will be ample. From information received, they went 
down to this place, searched it in his absence, discovered 
the stolen goods, and captured them. Having hand- 
cuffed and bound him, one drove him up to town, the 
other remaining to guard the treasure. On his way he 
got at this hidden dagger and stabbed himself. My 
evidence would not strengthen the case at all.” 

“ No ; I don’t see that it will be necessary to call you, 
Mr. Thorndyke. The discovery of this hidden booty 
and the proceeds of the coach robbery would be quite 
sufficient. Beyond the coroner’s inquest there will be 
no enquiry. Had it been otherwise, it might probably 
have been necessary to call you at the trial. However, 
as it is, it will save a lot of trouble ; now we shall only 
need to find the owners of these bank-notes. I will 
send off a cart for the things as early as I can get one, 
and will send a couple of constables round to the houses 
where burglaries have been committed to request the 
owners to come over and see if they can identify any 
of their property ; and those who do so can attend the 
inquest to-morrow, though I don’t suppose they will be 
called. The chief will be mightily pleased when he 
hears of what has taken place, for he has been sadly 
worried by these constant complaints, and I fancy that 
the authorities have been rather down upon him on 
the subject. The announcement that the career of this 
famous robber has been brought to an end will cause 


234 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


quite a sensation, and people will sleep more quietly than 
they have done lately round the commons on the south 
side. I expect that if he had not put an end to himself 
we should have had to send him across to Newington 
to-day ; for, of course, it is a Surrey business, though we 
have had the luck to take him. I suppose we shall not 
see much of you in the future, Mr. Thorndyke ?” 

“ No, indeed,” Mark said. “ My business is done, 
and I shall send in my resignation this morning. I 
don’t regret the time that I have spent over it. I have 
learned a great deal and have seen a lot of the shady 
side of life, and have picked up experience in a good 
many ways.” 

Mark, after requesting the inspector to find a man to 
go over to Streatham and bring back his horse, and 
writing an order to the ostler to deliver it, walked across 
to his lodgings. Upon the whole, he was not sorry that 
Bastow had taken the matter into his own hands ; he had, 
certainly, while engaged in the search, looked forward 
to seeing him in the dock and witnessing his execution, 
but he now felt that enough had been done for ven- 
geance, and that it was as well that the matter had 
ended as it had. He was wearied out with the excite- 
ment of the last forty-eight hours. It was one o’clock 
when he awoke, and, after dressing and going into 
Covent Garden to lunch at one of the coffee-houses, he 
made his way up to Islington. 

“Taking a day’s holiday?” Millicent asked, as he 
came in. 

“ Well, not exactly, Millicent ; I have left school alto- 
gether.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


235 

“ Left school, Mark ; do you mean that you have de- 
cided that it is of no use going on any longer?” 

“ I have given it up because I have finished it. Arthur 
Bastow was captured last night, and committed suicide 
as he was being taken to the station.” 

An exclamation of surprise broke from Mrs. Cunning- 
ham and Millicent. 

“ It seems horrid to be glad that anyone has taken his 
own life,” the latter said ; “ but I cannot help feeling so, 
for as long as he lived I should never have considered 
that you were safe, and besides, I suppose there is no 
doubt that if he had not killed himself he would have 
been hung.” 

“There is not a shadow of doubt about that,” Mark 
replied. “We found the proceeds of a vast number 
of robberies at his place, and also in his pockets the 
money he had taken from the passengers of the Ports- 
mouth coach an hour before we captured him. So that, 
putting aside that Australian business altogether, his 
doom was sealed.” 

“ Now, please tell us all about it,” Mrs. Cunningham 
said. “ But first let us congratulate you most warmly 
not only on the success of your search, but that the 
work is at an end.” 

“Yes, I am glad it is over. At first I was very much 
interested ; in fact, I was intensely interested all along, 
and should have been for however long it had continued. 
But, at the same time, I could do nothing else, and one 
does not want to spend one’s whole life as a detective. 
At last it came about almost by chance, and the only 
thing I have to congratulate myself upon is that my 


236 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


idea of the sort of place he would have taken was exactly 
borne out by fact.” And Mark then gave them a full 
account of the manner in which the discovery had been 
made and the capture effected. 

“You see, Millicent, I followed your injunction, and 
was very careful ; taking him by surprise as I did, I 
might have managed it single-handed, but with the aid 
of two good men it made a certainty of it, and the whole 
thing was comfortably arranged.” 

“I think you have done splendidly, Mark,” Mrs. Cun- 
ningham said. “ It was certainly wonderful that you 
should have found him doing exactly what you had 
guessed, even down to the deaf servant. Well, now that 
is done and over, what do you think of doing next?” 

“ I have hardly thought about that,” he replied ; “ but, 
at any rate, I shall take a few weeks’ holiday, and I sup- 
pose after that I shall settle down to the search for my 
uncle’s treasure. I am afraid that will be a much longer 
and a vastly more difficult business than this has been. 
Here there were all sorts of clues to work upon. Bas- 
tow ought to have been captured months ago ; but in 
this other affair, so far, there is next to nothing to follow 
up. We don’t even know whether the things are in 
India or in England. I believe they will be found, but 
that it will be by an accident. Really, I fancy that we 
shall hear about them when you come of age, Millicent. 
There was to have been no change till that time, and I 
cannot help thinking that Uncle George must have made 
some provision by which we should get to know about 
them in the event of his death without his having an 
opportunity of telling anyone where they are. 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


237 


“He might have been killed in battle ; he might have 
been drowned on his way home. He had thought the 
whole matter over so thoroughly, I do not think the pos- 
sibilities of this could have escaped him. As I told 
you, Mr. Prendergast made enquiries of all the principal 
bankers and Indian agents here, and altogether without 
success. After he had done that, I got a list of all the 
leading firms in Calcutta and Madras, and wrote to 
them, and all the replies were in the negative. It is 
true that does not prove anything absolutely. Eighteen 
years is a long time, and the chances are that during 
those years almost every head of a firm would have re- 
tired and come home. Such a matter would only be 
likely to be known to the heads ; and if, as we thought 
likely, the box or chest was merely forwarded by a firm 
there to England, the transaction would not have at- 
tracted any special attention. If, upon the other hand, 
it remained out there, it might have been put down in 
a cellar or store, and have been lying there ever since 
altogether forgotten.” 

“ I don’t see myself why you should bother any 
more about it ; perhaps, as you say, it will turn up of 
itself when I come of age. At any rate, I should say 
it is certainly as well to wait till then and see if it does, 
especially as you acknowledge that you have no clue 
whatever to work on. It is only three more years, for I 
will be eighteen next week, and it certainly seems to me 
that it will be very foolish to spend the next three years 
in searching about for a thing that may come to you 
without any searching at all.” 

“ Well, I will think it over.” 


238 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

“You see you really don’t want the money, Mark,” 
she went on. 

“No, I don’t want it particularly, Millicent, but when 
one knows that there is something like £50,000 waiting 
for one somewhere, one would like to get it. Your 
father worked for twenty years of his life accumulating 
it for us, and it seems to me a sort of sacred duty to 
see that his labour has not all been thrown away.” 

Millicent was silent. 

“It is very tiresome,” she said, presently. “Of course, 
my father intended, as you say, that his savings should 
come to us, but I am sure he never meant that they 
should be a bother and a trouble to us.” 

“I don’t see why they should ever be -that, Millicent. 
As it is, we have both sufficient for anything any man or 
woman could reasonably want, and neither of us need 
fret over it if the treasure is never found. Still, he 
wished us to have it, and it is properly ours, and I don’t 
want it to go to enrich someone who has not a shadow 
of a right to it.” 

On the following morning Mark went to attend the 
inquest on Bastow. He did not go into the court, how- 
ever, but remained close at hand in the event of the 
coroner insisting upon his being called. However, the 
two men only spoke casually in their evidence of their 
comrade Roberts, who had been also engaged in the 
capture. One of the jurymen suggested that he should 
also be called, but the coroner said, — 

“ I really cannot see any occasion for it ; we are here 
to consider how the deceased came by his death, and I 
think it must be perfectly clear that he came by it by his 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


239 


own act You have heard how he was captured, that 
the spoils of the coach that he had just rifled were found 
upon him, and that the booty he had been acquiring 
from his deeds for months past also was seized ; there- 
fore, as the man was desperate, and knew well enough 
that his life was forfeited, ample motive there was for his 
putting an end to his wretched existence. I really do 
not think, gentlemen, that it is worth while to waste your 
time and mine by going into further evidence.” 

Finally, a verdict of felo-de-se was returned, with a 
strong expression of the jury’s admiration of the conduct 
of Constables Malcolm, Chester, and Roberts, who had 
so cleverly effected the capture of the man who had so 
long set the law at defiance. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

F OUR days later Mark, on his return from dinner, 
found Philip Cotter sitting in his room waiting 
for him. They had met on the previous evening, 
and Cotter had expressed his intention of calling upon 
him the next day. 

“I am here on a matter of business, Thorndyke,” the 
latter said, as they shook hands. 

“Of business !” Mark repeated. 

“Yes. You might guess for a year, and I don’t sup- 
pose that you would hit it. It is rather a curious thing. 

Nearly twenty years ago ” 

“ I can guess it before you go any farther,” Mark ex- 
claimed, leaping up from the seat that he had just taken. 
“Your people received a box from India.” 

“That is so, Mark; although how you guessed it I 
don’t know.” 

“We have been searching for it for years,” Mark 
replied. “ Our lawyer, Prendergast, wrote to you about 
that box ; at least he wrote to you asking if you had 
240 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


241 

any property belonging to Colonel Thorndyke, and 
your people wrote to say they hadn’t.” 

“Yes ; I remember I wrote to him myself. Of course 
that was before you did me that great service, and I did 
not know your name, and we had not the name on our 
books. What is in the box?” 

“Jewels worth something like ^50,000.” 

“ By Jove ! I congratulate you, old fellow ; that is to 
say, if you have the handling of it. Well, this is what 
happened. The box was sent to us by a firm in Cal- 
cutta, together with bills for ^50,000. The instructions 
were that the money was to be invested in stock, and 
that we were to manage it and to take £ 1 00 a year for 
so doing. The rest of the interest of the money was to 
be invested. The box was a very massive one, and was 
marked with the letters X.Y.Z. It was very carefully 
sealed. Our instructions were that the owner of the 
box and the money might present himself at any time.” 

“And that the proof of his ownership was to be 
that he was to use the word Masulipatam,” Mark 
broke in, “ and produce a gold coin that would prob- 
ably — though of this I am not certain — correspond 
with the seals.” He got up and went to the cabinet, 
which he had brought up with him from Crowswood, 
unlocked it, and produced the piece of paper and the 
coin. 

“Yes, that looks like the seals, Thorndyke. At any 
rate, it is the same sort of thing. Why on earth didn’t 
you come with it before, and take the things away?” 

“ Simply because I did not know where to go. My 
uncle was dying when he came home, and told my 

16 


242 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


father about the treasure, but he died suddenly, and 
my father did not know whether it was sent to England 
or committed to someone’s charge in India, or buried 
there. We did the only thing we could, namely, en- 
quired at all the banks and agents here and at all the 
principal firms in Madras and Calcutta to ask if they 
had in their possession any property belonging to the 
late Colonel Thorn dyke.” 

“You see we did not know,” Cotter went on, “any 
more than Adam, to whom the box belonged. Fortu- 
nately the agent sent in his communication a sealed 
letter, on the outside of which was written, * This is to 
remain unopened, but if no one presents himself with 
the token, it is to be read on the 18th of August, 1789.’ 
That was yesterday, you know.” 

“Yes, that was my cousin’s eighteenth birthday. We 
thought if my uncle had left the box in anyone’s charge 
he would probably have given him some such instruc- 
tions, for at that time there was hard fighting in India, 
and he might have been killed any day, and would 
therefore naturally have made some provisions for pre- 
venting the secret dying with him.” 

“We did not think of it until this morning early, 
though we have been rather curious over it ourselves. 
When we opened it, inside was another letter addressed, 
‘To be delivered to John Thorndyke, Esquire, at Craw- 
ley, near Hastings, or at Crowswood, Reigate, or, in the 
event of his death, to his executors.’ ” 

“ I am one of his executors,” Mark said ; “ Mr. Pren- 
dergast, the lawyer, is the other. I think I had better 
go round to him to-morrow and open the letter there.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


243 


“ Oh, I should think you might open it at once, 
Thorndyke. It will probably only contain instructions, 
and, at any rate, as you have the coin and the word, you 
could come round to-morrow morning and get the chest 
out if you want it.” 

“I won’t do that,” Mark said. “The coffer contains 
gems worth over £50,000 ; I would very much rather it 
remained in your keeping until I decide what to do with 
it. How large is it?” 

“ It is a square box about a foot each way ; and it is 
pretty heavy, probably from the setting of the jewels. 
Well, anyhow, I am heartily glad, Thorndyke. I know, 
of course, that you are well off, still £100,000, — for the 
money has doubled itself since we have had it, — to say 
nothing of the jewels, is a nice plum to drop into any- 
one’s mouth.” 

“Very nice, indeed, although only half of it comes to 
me under my uncle’s will. To tell you the truth, I am 
more glad that the mystery has been solved than at get- 
ting the money ; the affair was a great worry to my 
father, and has been so to me. I felt that I ought to 
search for the treasure, and yet the probability of finding 
it sfeemed so small that I felt the thing was hopeless; 
and that really the only chance was that my uncle would 
have taken just the course he did, and have fixed some 
date when the treasure should be handed over, if not 
asked for. I rather fancied that it would not have been 
for another three years, for that is when my cousin comes 
of age.” 

“What cousin do you mean?” Philip Cotter asked. 
“ I did not know you had one.” 


244 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ Well, that is at present a secret, Cotter ; one of the 
mysteries connected with my uncle’s will. For myself, 
I would tell it in the market-place to-morrow, but she 
wishes it to be preserved at present ; you shall certainly 
know as soon as anyone. By the way, I have not seen 
you at Mrs. Cunningham’s for the last week, and you 
used to be a pretty regular visitor.” 

“ No,” the young man said, gloomily. “ I don’t mind 
telling you that Miss Conyers refused me a fortnight 
ago ; I never thought that I had much chance, but I had 
just the shadow of hope, and that is at an end now.” 

“ Perhaps in the future,” Mark suggested, for the sake 
of saying something. 

“No ; I said as much as that to her, and she replied 
that it would always be the same, and I gathered from 
her manner, although she did not exactly say so, that 
there was someone else in the case, and yet I have never 
met anyone often there.” 

“ Perhaps you are mistaken,” Mark said. 

“ Well, whether or not, there is clearly no hope for 
me. I am very sorry, but it is no use moping over it. 
My father and mother like her so much, and they are 
anxious for me to marry and settle down ; altogether, it 
would have been just the thing. I do not know whether 
she has any money, and did not care, for of course I 
shall have plenty. I shall be a junior partner in an- 
other six months ; my father told me so the other day. 
He said that at one time he was afraid that I should 
never come into the house, for that it would not have 
been fair to the others to take such a reckless fellow in ; 
but that I seemed to have reformed so thoroughly since 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


245 


that affair that, if I continued so for another six months, 
they should have no hesitation in giving me a share.” 

It was too late to go up to Islington that evening. In 
the morning Mark went with the still unopened letter to 
the solicitors. The old lawyer congratulated him most 
heartily when he told him of the discovery he had made. 

“ I am heartily glad, Mark ; not so much for the sake 
of the money, but because I was afraid that that con- 
founded treasure was going to unsettle your life. When 
a man once begins treasure-hunting it becomes a sort of 
craze, and he can no more give it up than an opium- 
smoker can the use of the drug. Thank goodness, that 
is over ; so the capital amount is doubled, and you are 
accordingly worth ,£75,000 more than you were this 
time yesterday, — a fine windfall. Now let us see what 
your uncle says.” 

He broke the seal. The letter was a short one : 

“ My dear John, — If you have not, before you re- 
ceive this, got my treasure, you will get it on the 1 8th or 
19th of August, 1789. I have made a will which will 
give you full instructions what to do with it. I may say, 
though, that I have left it between a little daughter, who 
was born six months ago, and your son Mark. My own 
intentions are to stop out here until I get the rank of 
general, and I have taken the measures that I have done 
in case a bullet or a sharp attack of fever carries me off 
suddenly. I hope that you will have carried out the 
provisions of my will, and I hope also that I shall have 
come home and talked the whole matter over with you 
before I go under. — Your affectionate brother.” 


246 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

“A singular man,” Mr. Prendergast said, as he laid 
the letter down on the table beside him. “ What trouble 
these crotchety people do give. I suppose you have 
altogether put aside that folly of his about the jewels?” 

“ Well, no, I can’t say that I have, Mr. Prendergast. 
Do you know that I have a fancy — it may only be a 
fancy, but if so I cannot shake it off — that I am watched 
by Lascars. There was one standing at the corner of 
the street as I came up this morning, and again and 
again I have run across one. It is not always the same 
man, nor have I any absolute reasons for believing that 
they are watching me ; still, somehow or other, I do 
come across them more frequently than seems natural.” 

“Pooh, nonsense, Mark ! I should have thought that 
you were too sensible a fellow to have such ridiculous 
fancies in your head.” 

“ Of course, I should never have thought of such a 
thing, Mr. Prendergast, if it had not been for what my 
father told me, — that my uncle was desperately in earnest 
about it, and had an intense conviction that someone 
watched his every movement.” 

“Don’t let us talk of such folly any longer,” the 
lawyer said, irritably. “Now that you have got the 
money, the best thing you can do is to go at once and 
carry out what was the wish of both your father and 
your uncle, and ask your cousin to marry you ; that will 
put an end to the whole business, and I can tell you that 
I am positively convinced that the day she is twenty- 
one she will renounce the property, and that, if you re- 
fuse to take it, she will pass it over to some hospital or 
other. You cannot do better than prevent her from 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


247 


carrying out such an act of folly as that, and the only 
way I can see is by your marrying her. I gathered from 
what you said when I gave you the same advice at Rei- 
gate, that you liked her, and should have done it had it 
not been for her coming into the estate instead of you. 
Well, you are now in a position to ask her to marry you, 
without the possibility of its being supposed that you are 
a fortune-hunter.” 

“ I will think about it, Mr. Prendergast. Of course, 
this money does make a considerable difference in my 
position ; however, I shall do nothing until I have got 
the jewels off my hands.” 

“Well, a couple of days will manage that,” the law- 
yer said ; “you have only got to take the box to a first- 
class jeweller and get him to value the things and make 
you an offer for the whole of them.” 

Mark did not care to press the subject, and on leaving 
went to Cotter’s Bank. He was at once shown into his 
friend’s room, and the latter took him to his father. 

“ It is curious, Mr. Thorndyke,” the latter said, 
heartily, “ that we should have been keeping your 
money all this time without the slightest idea that it be- 
longed to you. We are ready at once to pay it over to 
your order, for if you pronounce the word you know 
of, and I find that the coin you have corresponds with 
the seals on the box, the necessary proof will be given 
us that you have authority to take it away. I have had 
the box brought up this morning so that we can com- 
pare the seals.” 

The box was taken out of the strong safe, and it was 
at once seen that the coin corresponded with the seals. 


248 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ I will leave it with you for the present, Mr. Cotter ; 
it contains a large amount of jewels, and until I have 
decided what to do with them I would rather leave them ; 
it would be madness to have £50, 000 worth of gems in 
a London lodging, even for a single night ; as to the 
money, that also had better remain as it is at present 
invested. As I told your son, that and the jewels are 
the joint property of myself and another. I daresay 
that in a few days half of the money will be transferred 
to the name of the other legatee ; that can be easily 
done. I shall get my lawyer, Mr. Prendergast, to call 
upon you, Mr. Cotter. I suppose it would be better 
that some legal proof that we are entitled to the money 
should be given.” 

“ I shall be glad to see him and to take his instruc- 
tions,” the banker said ; “ but, in point of fact, I regard 
the property as being yours. I have nothing to do with 
wills or other arrangements. I simply received the box 
and the cash with an order that they should be delivered 
to whomsoever should come with the word ‘ Masulipa- 
tam’ and a coin to match the seals. That you have 
done, and with subsequent dispositions I have no con- 
cern. I shall be happy to keep this box for you as long 
as you should think proper, and I have also written out 
an acknowledgment that I hold securities of the value, 
at the closing prices yesterday, of ,£103,000 16s.” And 
he handed the paper to Mark. 

As the latter left the bank he looked up and down 
the street, and muttered an angry exclamation as he 
caught sight of a rough-looking fellow just turning a 
corner into a side street. The glance was so momentary 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


249 


a one that he could not say whether the man was a col- 
oured seaman, but he certainly thought that he was a 
Lascar. 

“ I am going to have trouble about that bracelet,” he 
said to himself, as he hailed a hackney coach and told 
him to drive to Islington. “ I am convinced that the 
colonel was right, and that there are some men over in 
this country with the fixed purpose of seeing what is 
done with those jewels, and obtaining them if possible. 
How they could tell that they were deposited at Cotter’s 
beats me altogether. It may be, indeed, that they really 
knew nothing about it, and have simply been watching 
me. They can hardly have been watching me for the 
last nine months, and yet, curiously enough, though I 
have never given the matter a thought since, Charley 
Gibbons said that it was a dark-coloured man who had 
brought the news that took them to my rescue and 
saved my life. I have often run against Lascars, and 
if they have taken this trouble all along, now that they 
have seen me come out of the bank, I shall be watched 
night and day. 

“ It is a creepy sort of idea, I should not be afraid 
of any number of them if they attacked me openly ; 
but there is no saying what they might do. I wish 
Ramoo had been here. I would have consulted him 
about it ; but as I got a letter from him only last week 
saying that he had, on the day of writing it, arrived in 
Calcutta, it is of no use wishing that. At any rate, I 
cannot do better than stick to the plan that my uncle 
sketched out, and take them across to Amsterdam. It 
would be very unfair to take them to any jeweller here. 


250 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


He might have them in his possession for a week or ten 
days before he made me any definite offer for them, 
and during that time I would not give a fig for his life. 
If I distribute the stones at Amsterdam, they would 
hardly set about attacking twelve diamond merchants 
one after another. Well, at any rate, I must say noth- 
ing about the affair to Millicent and Mrs. Cunningham. 
It was bad enough my running risks in the pursuit of 
Bastow ; but this would be ten times worse, for I know 
Millicent would be for letting things remain for good at 
the banker’s. But I have no idea of allowing myself 
to be frightened by two or three black scoundrels into 
throwing away ^50,000.” 

Mrs. Cunningham and Millicent were sitting in their 
bonnets in the parlour. 

“ Here you are at last, sir,” the girl said. “Another 
five minutes and we should have gone out. You told 
us that you would come early, and now it is twelve 
o’clock ; and you are generally so punctual in your 
appointments. What have you got to say for your- 
self?” 

“A good many things have happened since then, 
Millicent. Last night your friend Mr. Cotter called 
upon me.” 

“ Why do you say my friend ? He was your friend, 
and it was entirely through you that we knew him at all.” 

“Well, we will say ‘our friend,’ Millicent; and he 
made a communication to me that this morning I had 
to go to Mr. Prendergast and make a communication to 
him.” 

“What do you mean by your communications?” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 251 

Millicent asked, laughing. “You are quite mysterious, 
Mark.” 

“And then I had to go,” he went on, without heed- 
ing her interruption, “ to Cotter’s Bank, where I saw 
both our friend and his father, and there is the result 
of these communications and that interview.” And he 
threw the paper to her. 

“ What does it mean ?” she asked in astonishment, 
after glancing through it. 

“ It means, dear, that your father took exactly the 
precautions I thought he would take, and after sending 
his money and jewels home, he sent a sealed letter to 
the firm with whom he deposited them, which happened 
to be Cotter’s, with instructions that should no one pre- 
sent himself with the word and coin by the 18th of 
August, 1789, that is to say on your eighteenth birth- 
day, the envelope should be opened ; it was so opened, 
and it contained a letter that was to be sent to my 
father, or in the case of his death before that date, to 
his executors.” 

“ How wonderful !” the girl said. “ I quite gave up 
all idea of it. But how is it that it came to be so much ? 
Have they sold the jewels?” 

“No; you see it is compound interest going on for 
seventeen years, and perhaps some rise in the value of 
the securities that has doubled the original sum invested ; 
as for the jewels, I have left them at the bank. I should 
not care about having .£50,000 worth of such things in 
my rooms, and I should not think that you would like 
to have them here, either.” 

“ Certainly not,” Mrs. Cunningham said, emphati- 


252 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


cally; “you did quite right, Mark. I don’t think I 
could sleep, even if you had half a dozen of your de- 
tective friends posted round the house.” 

“ Still, I suppose we shall have a chance of seeing 
them?” Millicent said. 

“ Certainly. I can make an appointment with Philip 
Cotter for you to see them at the bank ; or if I take 
them to a jeweller to value, you could see them there. 
But I should think that the bank would be the best. I 
am sure that Cotter would put his room at your dis- 
posal, and of course if you would like to have some of 
them for yourself you could select any you liked, but I 
expect that they wont look much in their present set- 
tings ; the Indian jewellers have not the knack of setting 
off gems. However, there is no hurry about them one 
way or another. The money, I have told Cotter’s father, 
shall for the present remain as it is invested ; it is all in 
the funds, Cotter said, for although the instructions were 
that it was to be put into good securities, he did not feel 
justified under the peculiar circumstances in going out- 
side government stock. Mr. Prendergast is quite of 
opinion that it would be better to make no change until 
you come of age. I did not know that you would wait 
till then, for some time or other you might want to use 
some of them.” 

Millicent shrugged her shoulders. 

“I think I would much rather have had just the 
money I had before, Mark ; all this will be a great nui- 
sance, I am sure. I think there ought to be a law 
against people having more than ,£20,000, whether in 
money or in land.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


253 


Mark laughed. 

“ It would be a bad thing for spendthrift young noble- 
men, Millicent. How are they to pay off their debts 
and mortgages if there were no heiresses ready to do so 
in exchange for a title?” 

“ It would be a good thing for them, I consider,” the 
girl said, indignantly. “ In the first place, they would 
not impoverish themselves if they knew that there was no 
way of building up their fortune again, and, in the next 
place, if they did ruin themselves they would have to 
either set to work to earn an honest living or blow out 
their brains, if they have any to blow out I can assure 
you that I don’t feel at all exultant at getting all this 
money, and I think that my father was quite right in 
wishing that I should know nothing about it until I 
married ; but, on the other hand, 1 am heartily glad, 
more glad than I can say, Mark, that you have come 
into your share.” 

“ I am glad for one reason, Millicent ; that is, that this 
must put an end to the ridiculous idea you have of 
giving up Crowswood. Your father has made me rich 
beyond anything I could possibly have expected from 
him. I suddenly find myself a wealthy man, and I can 
buy another estate for myself worth more than Crows- 
wood, if inclined to settle down as a squire ; therefore 
your theory that I have been disappointed in not in- 
heriting what I thought was my father’s estate falls to 
the ground altogether. In no case would I ever have 
accepted your sacrifice. If you had liked to hand it over 
to St. Bartholomew’s or Guy’s Hospital, or to give it 
away to any other charity, I could not have prevented 


254 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


you, but I would never have accepted it for myself. 
Now, thank goodness, the question cannot arise, for 
you must see that, even looking at the matter from a 
purely business point of view, I have benefited to an 
enormous and altogether unexpected extent by your 
father’s will, and if any contest between us could arise, 
it should be on the ground that he has acted unfairly to 
you by giving me so large a proportion of the money 
that, in the course of nature, you should have inherited. 
It was not even as if he had known and liked me, for I 
was away at school at the time he came home to my 
father, and he never as much as saw me.” 

“ You are very obstinate and very disagreeable, Mark,” 
she said, with tears in her eyes. 

“ I think the obstinacy has been principally on your 
side, Millicent, though certainly I should not think of 
saying that you have been disagreeable. It has been an 
excess of kind-heartedness on your part, and you have 
resolutely closed your eyes to the fact that, had I been 
willing to take advantage of your generosity, I should 
have lacked the courage to do so, for I should have 
been pointed at, wherever I went, as a mean fellow who 
took advantage of his little cousin’s romantic generosity. 
Pray, dear, let us say no more about it. We are two 
rich young people : each has a fine fortune in the 
funds ; each has an estate ; yours, I grant, is the largest ; 
but, if I choose, I can increase mine until it is quite as 
large as Crowswood. We can be better friends than we 
have been for the last year, because this point of dispute 
has always stood between us and made us uncomfortable. 
Now you will have to think over what you would like 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


255 


done and whether you wish any change made in your 
manner of living.” 

“Did you tell Mr. Cotter,” Millicent laughed, after a 
pause, “ that I had a half-share in the money ?” 

“ No ; that was a matter for you to decide, not for me. 
I told him that I was only a half-shareholder, but there 
was no necessity to say who had the other half-share. 
When I was talking to Philip Cotter the words ‘my 
cousin’ slipped out, but he did not associate it in any 
way with you. It might have been the son of another 
brother or of a sister of my father’s.” 

“ In that case, then, we will certainly make no change ; 
will we, Mrs. Cunningham ?” 

“ I think that is a matter for your consideration, 
Millicent. I think that Mr. Prendergast and Mark will 
probably be of opinion that you ought now to be intro- 
duced regularly into society. The fact that you are a 
rich heiress might, as your father so much wished, re- 
main a secret. But it is one thing having this blazoned 
about and quite another for you to be living quietly here, 
where, with the exception of Mr. Cotter and a few other 
friends, you have no society whatever. Certainly it was 
not the wish of your father that you should remain un- 
married. You are quite pretty and nice enough to be 
sought for for yourself alone, and I must say that I 
think, now that you have finished with your various 
masters, it would be well that you should go out a good 
deal more, and that as a first step we should go down to 
Bath this year instead of paying another visit to Wey- 
mouth, as we had arranged.” 

“ I don’t want any change at all, Mrs. Cunningham. 


256 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

If I am to get married, I shall be married ; if I am not, 
I shall not fret about it.” 

“But for all that, Millicent,” Mark said, “Mrs. Cun- 
ningham is right. We quite agree that there is no occa- 
sion whatever for you to go about labelled, ‘A good 
estate and over £ 70,000 in cash ;’ but I do think that it 
is right that you should go into society. With the ex- 
ception of Philip Cotter, Dick Chetwynd, and two or 
three other of my friends, you really know very few 
people. You have now gone out of mourning, and I 
think that Mrs. Cunningham’s proposal that you should 
go down to Bath is a very good one. I shall not be 
sorry for a change myself, for I have been engrossed in 
my work for a long time now. I can go down a day or 
two before you and get you comfortable lodgings, and 
will myself stay at a hotel. Although I have no in- 
timate friends beyond those from Reigate, I know a 
large number of men of fashion from meeting them at 
the boxing schools and other places, and could introduce 
you both and get you into society.” 

“I am altogether opposed to the idea,” Millicent said, 
decidedly. “You want to trot me out like a horse for 
sale.” 

“No, Millicent,” Mark said, calmly. “I only want 
you to have the same advantages that other girls have, 
neither more nor less, and for you to enjoy yourself as 
others do. There is nothing undignified or objec- 
tionable about that, especially as we are agreed that 
nothing shall be said about your fortune. Well, we will 
think it over. Mr. Prendergast and I certainly do not 
wish to act as tyrants, and there is no occasion to come 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


257 


to a decision in a hurry. We have only discovered our 
good fortune to-day, and can scarcely appreciate the dif- 
ference that it will make to us. We can think over what 
will be for the best at our leisure, and see if we cannot 
hit upon some plan that will be agreeable to you.” 

“Thank you, Mark,” she said, gratefully. “I am 
afraid that you must think me very disagreeable and 
cross ; but though you, as a man, have not the same 
sort of feelings, I can assure you that I feel all this 
money and so on to be a heavy burden ; and were it not 
for your sake I could wish heartily that this treasure had 
never been discovered at all.” 

“ I can quite understand that,” he said, quietly. “At 
the present moment, even I do not see that it will be of 
much advantage to me ; but it may be that some day I 
shall see it in a different light. It has come upon me 
almost as suddenly as it has upon you. I thought that 
after I had finished with the Bastow affair I should set 
to work to find out this treasure, and that it would prob- 
ably take me out to India, occupy me there for some 
time, and that afterwards I might travel through other 
places and be away from England for three or four 
years. Now the matter is altogether altered, and I shall 
be some time before I form any fresh plans. In fact, 
these must depend upon circumstances.” 

Mrs. Cunningham had left the room two or three 
minutes before, thinking that Mark might be able to 
talk her charge into a more reasonable state of mind 
were he alone with her, and he added, “ Of one circum- 
stance in particular.” 

She looked up enquiringly. 

17 


258 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ Well, Millicent, it depends a great deal upon you. 
I know you think that all that has happened during the 
past year has been a little hard upon you, and I thor- 
oughly agree with you ; you were fond of Crowswood, 
and were very happy there, and the change to this some- 
what dull house, just at a time when you are of an age 
to enjoy pleasure, has been a trial. Then, too, there 
has been this question of the estate upon your mind ; 
but you must remember, it has been somewhat of a trial 
to me also. I grant that I have had plenty of occupa- 
tion, which has been in every way beneficial to me, 
and have not in any way lamented leaving the country, 
but in one respect it has been a trial. I don’t know 
whether it ever entered your mind, before that sad time 
at home, that I was getting to care for you in a very 
different way to that in which I had done before. 

“ My father, I think, observed it, for he threw out a 
very plain hint once that he would very gladly see us 
coming together. However, I never spoke of it to you. 
I was young and you were young. It seemed to me 
that there was plenty of time, and that, moreover, it 
would not be fair for me to speak to you until you had 
had the opportunity of going out and of seeing other 
men. Then came the evening before his death, when 
my father told me how matters really stood, and he 
again said that there was a way by which all trouble 
could be obviated. But I saw that it was not so, and 
that the hope I had entertained must be put aside. I 
had never told you I loved you when I seemed to be 
the heir of the property and you only the daughter of 
an old comrade of his, and I saw that were I to speak 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


259 


now, when you were the heiress, it could not but appear 
to you that it was the estate and not you that I wanted, 
and I felt my lips were sealed for ever. Mr. Prender- 
gast said that day when he came down to the funeral, 
and you told him that you would not take the property, 
that it might be managed in another way, and you said 
that you did not want to be married for your money ; so 
you see you saw it in exactly the same light as I did. 

“ My first thought this morning, when Mr. Cotter 
told me that the money had mounted up to over 
^100,000, was that it would unseal my lips. You 
were still better off than I was, but the difference was 
now immaterial. I was a rich man, and had not the 
smallest occasion to marry for money. Whether I 
married a girl without a penny, or an heiress, could 
make but little difference to me, as I have certainly no 
ambition to become a great landowner. I still think 
that it would have been more fair to you to give you 
the opportunity of seeing more of the society of the 
world before speaking to you, but you see you are op- 
posed to that, and therefore it would be the same did 
I wait another year, which I don’t think I shall be able 
to do. I love you, Millicent. It is only during the 
past year, when I have thought that I had lost you, 
that I have known how much I love you, and how 
much my happiness depends upon you. I can truly 
say that were you penniless, it would make no shadow 
of difference to me. It is no longer a question of 
arranging matters comfortably ; it is a question of love. 
The estate is nothing to me. It never has been any- 
thing, and it does not count at all in the scale. I hope 


260 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

that you will put it altogether out of your mind in 
giving me an answer, and that if you cannot say as 
truly and wholly as I do, ‘ I love you,’ that you will 
say as frankly as you have always spoken to me, ‘ I 
love you very much as a cousin, Mark, but not in that 
way.’ ” 

The girl had sat perfectly quiet while he was speak- 
ing. He was standing before her now, and he took one 
of her hands. 

“ I love you, dear. I love you with all my heart. 
Do you love me?” Then she looked up and rose to 
her feet, and placed both hands upon his shoulders. 

“As you love me, so I love you, Mark.” 

After that, conversation languished till Mrs. Cunning- 
ham came into the room, five minutes later. 

“We have come to the conclusion, Mrs. Cunning- 
ham,” he said, “that there will be no necessity for the 
visit to Bath. Millicent is otherwise provided for : she 
has promised to be my wife.” 

“ I am glad, Mark, glad, indeed.” And she took Milli- 
cent in her arms and kissed her tenderly. “ I have all 
along hoped for it, but I began to be afraid that you 
were both such obstinate young people that it would 
never come about. I know that your father wished it, 
Mark, and he told me that his brother had said that it 
would be a good arrangement if some day you should 
come to like each other. I have guessed for the last 
year, and, indeed, before then, that Millicent would not 
say ‘No’ if you ever asked her; but this stupid estate 
seemed to stand in the way. Of late, I have even 
come to hope that the obstinate girl would keep to her 



“ As you love me, so I love you, Mark ” 


IVDE 

























































































































THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


261 


intention, and that if, as I knew would be the case, you 
refused to take the estate, she would give it away to 
some charity. In that case, there could be nothing to 
prevent your speaking ; and even then you would have 
been, between you, very fairly equipped with this world’s 
goods. However, the present is a far better solution, 
and the discovery of the treasure has saved you from 
three years’ waiting before things were straightened out. 
I feel as if I were her mother, Mark, having had her 
in my charge since she was a baby ; and as she grew 
up it became my fondest hope to see you united some 
day, and I think that I am almost as pleased that my 
hope has been fulfilled as you are yourselves.” 



CHAPTER XVII. 

A FTER thinking over the best way in which to set 
about the work of carrying the diamonds to 
Amsterdam, Mark decided upon asking the ad- 
vice of his late chief. The latter said, as Mark entered 
his room, — 

“ I did not expect to see you here again, Mr. Thorn- 
dyke.” 

“Well, sir, I have come to ask your advice about 
another matter altogether.” 

“ What is it now ?” 

“ I have to convey a diamond bracelet of very great 
value across to Amsterdam. I have reason to believe 
that there is a plot to seize it on the way, and that the 
men engaged will hesitate at nothing to achieve their 
object. Under these circumstances I should be very 
much obliged if you will tell me what would be the best 
course to pursue. I must say that the bracelet is, with 
many other jewels, in a strong teak box of about a foot 
square, at present in the possession of our bankers ; they 
262 



THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


263 


were brought from India by my uncle. I imagine that 
the rest of the jewels are of comparatively little impor- 
tance in the eyes of these men, though doubtless they 
would take them also if they laid their hands on them. 
The bracelet, however, is of special interest to them, 
not so much for its intrinsic value, but because it was 
stolen from one of their sacred idols. 

“This was about twenty years ago; but I have reason 
to believe that the search for it on the part of some 
Hindoos connected with the temple has never ceased ; 
the soldier who took it was murdered, his comrade, 
into whose hands it next passed, was also murdered. 
It next came to my uncle, who forwarded it at once 
to England. His bungalows were searched again and 
again, until probably the fellows came to the conclusion 
that he must have either buried it or sent it away. 
Nevertheless, to the day of his death he was firmly con- 
vinced that he was closely followed, and every move- 
ment watched. He warned my father solemnly that he, 
too, would be watched, but as far as we know it was not 
so ; at any rate, we had no reason to suppose that the 
house was ever entered. On the other hand, I am con- 
vinced I have been watched more or less closely ever 
since I came up to town, and as I came out from the 
bank yesterday I saw a man, a coloured fellow, I believe, 
on the watch. 

“ My uncle said that my life would not be worth an 
hour’s purchase so long as I had the bracelet in my 
possession, and advised that it should be taken straight 
over to Amsterdam, broken up, and the diamonds sold 
singly to the merchants there.” 


264 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ It is a curious story, Mr. Thorndyke. I own to 
ignorance of these Indian thieves and their ways, but it 
certainly seems extraordinary that so hopeless a quest 
should be kept up for so long a time. You are sure 
that it is not fancy on your part that you have been 
watched ? I know you are not the sort of man to take 
fancies in your head, but as you have had the matter 
so strongly impressed upon you, you might naturally 
have been inclined to think this would be the case when 
it was not so.” 

“ No, I don’t think there is any chance of my being 
mistaken. It is only of late that I have thought about 
it, but when I did so, and thought over what had passed 
since I came to London, I recalled the fact that I had 
very often come across foreign seamen ; sometimes they 
were Lascars, at others they might have been Italian 
or Spanish seamen ; and you see, sir, it was, as I told 
you at the time, some foreign sailor who came and in- 
formed Gibbons that I had fallen into the hands of a 
gang of criminals, and that I should certainly be killed 
if I was not rescued immediately. Gibbons at once got 
together half a dozen fighting men, and, as you know, 
rescued me just in time. It was extraordinary that the 
man never came forward to obtain any reward.” 

“That was a friendly act, Mr. Thorndyke.” 

“Yes; I have no reason to suppose that these men 
would be hostile to me personally. I was not the thief ; 
I was simply the person who happened to be in posses- 
sion or rather might come into possession of the brace- 
let. From the close watch they had kept, they were, I 
imagine, well aware that I had not got it, but may have 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


265 


thought, and doubtless did think, that I had some clue 
to its hiding place, and should sooner or later get it 
With my death, the clue might be finally lost, and my 
life was consequently of extreme importance to them, 
and therefore they took steps to have me rescued, and 
the fact that they learned this and knew how friendly I 
was with Gibbons shows how close was the watch kept 
over me. No doubt, had Gibbons refused to help them, 
they would have come here at once.” 

“Certainly after what you say it would seem that 
your conjecture is right, and in that case if I were you 
I should take the bracelet out of the case and conceal it 
about me. I would not fetch it myself from the bank.” 

“I don’t think I should be much safer so,” Mark 
said, thoughtfully. “ In the first place, I must go to 
the bank to get it, and I might be murdered merely 
on the supposition that I had brought the bracelet 
away. In the next place, even if I got to Amsterdam 
safely and got rid of the bracelet and returned un- 
noticed by them, a fresh danger would arise when I 
got the other gems into my possession, for they could 
not be certain whether the diamonds were still among 
them or not.” 

“ I should hardly think that would be the case if they 
watch you as strictly as you believe. Even if none of 
them accompanied you, they would soon find out what 
diamond merchants you went to, and the leader might 
call upon these men, stating that he was commissioned 
to purchase some diamonds of exceptional value for an 
Eastern prince, in which case he would be sure to obtain 
sight of them. 


266 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ If I had your business to perform, I would not go 
near the bank again, but would send some friend I 
could trust to go and open the box and take out the 
bracelet and make it into a small parcel. He should 
hand it to you privately as you are on your way to em- 
bark for Amsterdam. Then I would take with me 
one or two of my men and, say, a couple of your prize- 
fighters, and with such a guard you ought to be fairly 
safe.” 

“ I think that is a capital plan,” Mark said, “ and if I 
don’t go to the bank there will be nothing to lead them 
to suppose that I have taken them out or that I am 
just going across to Holland.” 

Mark then went straight to Dick Chetwynd’s 
lodgings. 

“ I want you to be of service to me, Dick,” he said. 

“With pleasure, Mark. What sort of service is it? 
If it is anything in my power, you know that you can 
absolutely rely upon me. You are not going to fight a 
duel, are you, and want a second?” 

“ No ; quite another sort of business. I will tell you 
shortly what it is. I have to convey an extremely 
valuable diamond bracelet to Amsterdam, and I have 
reason to believe that there will be an attempt to mur- 
der me and to carry off the jewels before I can dispose 
of them. It happened in this way.” And he then related 
the history of the diamonds, the reason he was followed, 
and the suggestions that the chief of the Bow Street 
detectives had given him. 

“That is all right,” Dick said, when he had concluded. 
“ It is a rum business, but certainly I will do what you 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


267 


ask me ; and what is more, I will go over with you to 
Amsterdam and see the thing through. It is an interest- 
ing business, if it is a queer one.” 

“You know Philip Cotter?” 

“ Of course, Mark ; why, I have met him with you 
several times.” 

“ I will give you a note to ask him to allow you to 
open the case and to take from it the bracelet. I don’t 
"know whether it is a regular gold-mounted bracelet or 
simply some diamonds that have been fastened together 
as a necklace. However, I suppose you are sure to 
recognise them. They are altogether exceptional stones, 
and are sure to be done up in a packet by themselves, 
whatever the others may be. Say that you will call in 
and take them away some other time, of which I will 
give him notice by letter. I will write the note now, 
and if you can spare time to go there to-day all the 
better, for I shall be glad to get the business over ; then 
I will come again to-morrow morning and we will ar- 
range the details of the plan. I will look in the ship- 
ping list and see what vessels are sailing for Amsterdam. 
When we have fixed on one, it will be best for you to 
take our passages under any names you like, so that 
they are not our own. The detectives will take their 
passages separately, and so will Gibbons and whoever 
else goes with us.” 

“I will go at once, Mark.” 

“ Don’t go straight there, Dick. If these fellows are 
dogging my footsteps everywhere, and saw me coming 
here, they might take it into their heads to follow you.” 

“ Oh, they never can be doing all that sort of thing ; 


268 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


that’s too much to believe. However, to please you I 
will go into my club for a quarter of an hour. Shall I 
come round to your rooms this evening, or will you 
come here ?” 

“ I think I will put off our meeting altogether until 
to-morrow morning. I have an engagement this even- 
ing that I cannot very well get out of.” 

“All right, Mark; just as you please. What time 
will you come round in the morning ?” 

“About the time you have finished breakfast. I will 
go now and have a look at the shipping list.” 

They parted at the door, and Mark went to the coffee- 
house where shipping matters were specially attended 
to, and where master mariners might often be met, con- 
versing together or with ship-owners or merchants. On 
going through the list he found that the fast-sailing. brig 
“ Essex,” of two hundred and four tons, and mounting 
eight guns, would sail for Amsterdam in three days’ time, 
and would take in goods for that place, and, should 
sufficient freight be obtained, for any other Dutch port. 
It was also announced that she had good accommoda- 
tions for passengers. Information as to cargo could be 
obtained from her owners, on Tower Hill, or from the 
captain on board, between the hours of ten and twelve. 
Then, in small type, it was stated that the “ Essex” was 
at present lying in the outside tier, nearly opposite An- 
derson’s wharf. 

Mark made a note of all these particulars in his pocket- 
book, and then went to Ingleston’s public-house. 

“ Morning, Mr. Thorndyke,” the man said. “Haven’t 
seen yer for the last month or so.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 269 

“No; I have been out of town. Do you expect 
Gibbons in here this morning?” 

“ It is about his time, sir, when he has nothing in par- 
ticular to see about. Like a turn with the mawleys this 
morning ?” 

“Not this morning, Ingleston. I have got some en- 
gagements for the next day or two where I could not 
very well show myself with a black eye or a swelled 
nose ; you have given me a good many of both.” 

“Well, Mr. Thorndyke, when one stands up against 
a man who is as strong as oneself, and a mighty quick 
and hard hitter, you have got to hit sharp and quick, 
too. You know my opinion, that there ain’t more than 
half a dozen men in the country could lick you if you 
had a proper training.” 

“ I suppose you couldn’t get away for a week, or may 
be two,” he said. 

“ Lor’ bless you, no, sir ; who would there be to keep 
order here at night ? When I first came here I had not 
given up the ring, and I fought once or twice after- 
wards. But Lor’ bless you, I soon found that I had 
got either to give up the pub or the ring, and as I was 
doing a tidy business here, I thought it best to retire ; 
since then business has grown. You see boxing is more 
fashionable than it used to be, and there are very few 
nights when one don’t have a dozen Corinthians in here, 
— sometimes there are twice as many, — either to see 
some of the new hands put on the mawleys, and judge 
for themselves how they are going to turn out, or maybe 
to arrange for a bout between some novice they fancy 
and one of the west countiymen. No, sir, I could not 


270 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


do it ; anyhow, I should not like to be away even for 
one night, though I know Gibbons would look after 
things for me ; as for being away for a week, I could not 
do it for any money. No, sir ; my fight with Jackson, 
this spring, was the last time I shall ever go into the 
ring. I was a fool to go in for that, but I got taunted 
into it. I never thought that I should lick him, though ; 
as you know, sir, I have licked a good many men in my 
time, but Jackson is an out-and-out man, and he has 
got a lot more science than I ever had ; my only chance 
was that I could knock him out of time or wear him 
down ; but he was too quick on his pins for me to do 
the former. Ah, Gibbons, here is Mr. Thorndyke. He 
wants to see you ; you had best go into my room be- 
hind the bar.” 

“Want to get hold of a fresh hand, Mr. Thorndyke?” 
Gibbons asked, when they had sat down by the fire. 

“No, Gibbons; it is another business altogether. 
Have you got anything particular to keep you in town 
for the next fortnight ? It may not be over a week, but 
it may be over a fortnight.” 

“No, sir,” the man said, after taking three or four 
draws at his long pipe. “No, sir, they won’t want 
rope and stakes for another three weeks, so I am your 
man, if you want me. What is it for, sir?” 

“ Well, it is rather a curious affair, Gibbons. I have to 
take a very valuable bracelet over to Amsterdam, to sell 
there, and I have very strong reasons for believing that 
if some fellows get an inkling of it they will try to put 
me out of the way, and get hold of the diamonds. I 
want a couple of good men to go with me.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


27 


“ Well, sir, I should say you and me could lick a 
dozen ordinary chaps, without thinking anything of it.” 

“ I daresay we could, Gibbons, in a stand-up fight 
without weapons, but I fancy these fellows will not try 
that They are foreigners, and the first thing they 
would try would be to put a dagger between my shoul- 
ders as I walked up and down on deck at night, or, 
more likely still, creep into my cabin and stab me while 
I was asleep. If the voyage were only to last one night 
I might sit up, pistol in hand, but if the wind is foul we 
might be a week. We are a pretty strong party. Mr. 
Chetwynd — you know him — is going with me ; there 
will also be two runners from Bow Street, and I want 
you to take another good man with you. Of course, on 
board we shall separate. The Bow Street men will 
watch the passengers, and you and your mate will smoke 
your pipes and keep yourselves ready to join in if you 
see there is going to be a row. But I rather think that 
the passage will be a quiet one. At Amsterdam, until I 
have got rid of the diamonds, I certainly should not care 
about going out into the street after nightfall without 
having you close behind me.” 

“All right. I should say Tom Tring would be as 
good a man as one could get at the job. What is the 
money to be, Mr. Thorndyke ?” 

“Well, what do you think yourself, Gibbons?” 

“I take it you pay all the expenses, sir.” 

“Yes, everything.” 

“Would five-and-twenty guineas a head be too 
much ?” 

“No. I will do better than that. I will give you 


272 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

five-and- twenty guineas each when we get to Amster- 
dam, and I will give you another twenty-five each if I 
come back here safe and sound.” 

“Well, I call that handsome. One could not want 
more, and you can rely on it that Tring will jump at the 
offer. He has not been able to get a fight on lately, 
and he is rather in low water.” 

“Well, you will both get up as quiet traders. I 
don’t know what other passengers there may be, but 
I don’t want them to know that you belong to the 
fancy.” 

“ I twig, sir. We will get up quiet like.” 

“ Then I want you to-morrow morning, Gibbons, to 
go down to Holmes & Moore, No. 67, Tower Street, 
and take two first-class tickets to Amsterdam on board 
the ‘Essex,’ which sails on Saturday. I don’t know 
what the passage money will be, but this is sure to be 
enough ; and we can settle accounts afterwards. You 
will find out what time of day she will start.” 

“ All right, governor. I suppose you will be here 
again before that?” 

“No, I don’t suppose I shall, unless there is some 
change in the arrangements. If for any reasons Tring 
cannot go with you, you will get somebody else instead. 
You are sure that you quite understand your instruc- 
tions ? Here is the name and address of the people in 
Tower Street.” 

“All right, sir. You may make sure that when 
you go down to the ship you will see the two of us on 
board.” 

It needed but a few minutes at Bow Street to 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


273 

inform the chief of the arrangements that had been 
made. 

“I have told off Chester and Malcolm ; one of them 
shall go down and take their tickets. Of course, they 
will take their passages in the fore cabin, as the danger, 
if there is danger, may come from there, and you will 
have your other two men with you aft. I fancy myself 
that there is hardly any chance of your being in any 
way troubled while on board. It will be considered 
that there will be a vastly greater chance of carrying 
out any plan they may have formed at Amsterdam than 
there would be on board a ship ; you see if there were 
any struggle whatever on board there would be no 
escape for them. 

“ For myself, of course, I cannot give any opinion 
worth having in a matter so different from anything we 
have to do with here, and I should have unhesitatingly 
scoffed at the idea of anyone watching the movements 
of people for a long number of years in order to obtain 
the possession of jewels, however valuable. However, 
your uncle was well acquainted with the habits of Hin- 
doos, and was not a man to be lightly alarmed ; you 
yourself, after your year with us, should not be deceived 
in such a matter as being yourself followed. Under these 
circumstances you are quite right to take every pre- 
caution, and as you pay well for the services of our two 
men, even if I had no belief whatever in the existence 
of danger to you, I should not feel justified in refusing 
to let you have them.” 

Having arranged these matters, Mark spent the rest 
of his time that day and the next at Islington. 

18 


274 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ I am going across to Amsterdam on Saturday with 
a diamond bracelet to sell there.” 

Millicent looked at him in reproachful surprise. 

“Why, surely, Mark, there can be no hurry about 
that. I think you might have stayed a little longer be- 
fore running away.” 

“ I should do so, you may be quite sure, Millicent, if 
I consulted my own inclinations, but I am bearing out 
your father’s wishes. This bracelet is the most valuable 
of all the things he had, and I believe that it has some 
sort of history attached to it ; he told my father that he 
had sent all the gems home, principally to get these dia- 
monds out of his possession ; he said that as soon as my 
father got hold of the things, he was to take the dia- 
monds straight over to Amsterdam and sell them there, 
for he considered that they were much too valuable to 
be kept in the house, and that it was possible that some 
of the Hindoos might endeavour to get possession of 
them. At the time he spoke he believed that my father 
would, at his death, go to the bank and get the jewels, 
as of course he would have done if he had known where 
to find them ; my father promised him that they should 
be taken to Amsterdam at once, and, although so many 
years have passed since his death, I think I am bound to 
carry out that promise.” 

“ I have never been able to understand, Mark, how it 
was that my father, when he gave all these instructions 
about me and these jewels, and so on, did not at the 
same time tell uncle where to find them.* 

“It was a fancy of his ; he was in very bad health, 
and he thought so much over these diamonds that it had 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


275 


become almost a sort of mania with him that not only 
was there danger in their possession, but that he was 
watched night and day wherever he went. He thought 
even if he whispered where the hiding-place was to be 
discovered it might be heard ; therefore he deferred tell- 
ing it until too late. Of course, all this was but a fancy 
on his part, although it is probable enough that the pos- 
session of the diamonds was a source of danger in India, 
and might have been a source of danger here had any 
thieves known that such valuable gems were kept in a 
private house or carried about. At any rate, I shall be 
glad to be free of the responsibility ; and although, nat- 
urally, I don’t like leaving you at the present time, I 
think it best to carry out your father’s instructions at 
once, and to get them off my mind altogether. Dick 
Chetwynd is going with me, so it will be a pleasant little 
trip.” 

“Well, I am glad he is going with you, Mark; for, 
although I know well enough that they could never be 
watching for those diamonds to turn up all these years, 
I feel sure I should fidget and worry if you were alone. 
You are not going to take the others with you ?” 

“ No ; only this particular bracelet. None of the 
others are exceptionally valuable, so far as I know. At 
any rate, your father did not specially allude to them. 
I have no doubt that there are some really valuable 
jewels among them, for my uncle prided himself on 
being a judge of precious stones, and, as he invested a 
large amount of money in them, they are no doubt val- 
uable. Still, I don’t suppose there will be any difficulty 
in selling them here, and, at any rate, I don’t want to be 


276 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


delayed at Amsterdam by having to sell perhaps fifty or 
a hundred pieces of jewelry ; any time will do for that 
I fancy that I ought to be able to dispose of the brace- 
let in three or four days at the outside. I have got 
from Bow Street a list of all the principal diamond mer- 
chants in Amsterdam. That is a matter of great interest 
to the force, as almost all precious stones stolen in this 
country are sent across there, and if there is any special 
jewel robbery we send over a list of all the articles 
stolen to the merchants there. As a rule, that would 
not prevent their dealing in them ; but there are some 
who will not touch things that have been dishonestly 
come by, and we occasionally get hints that enable us 
to lay hands upon thieves over there.” 

“ I hate to hear you say ‘ the force,’ Mark, just as if 
you were still a detective. It is bad enough that you 
should have belonged to it, even for the purpose you 
did ; but you have done with it now.” 

“Yes ; but you see, it is rather difficult to get out of 
the habit when one has been for over a year constantly 
at work at a thing. This will be my last absence on 
business, Millicent ; henceforward I shall be able to be 
always with you.” 

“Well, now that I know what you have been doing 
all this time, Mark, I must admit that you have been 
very good to have been with us as much as you have. 
I often used to wonder how you passed your time. Of 
course I knew that you were trying to find that man out, 
but it did not seem to me that you could be always at 
that, and I never dreamt that you had become a regular 
detective. I am very glad I did not know it. In the first 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


277 


place, I should have been horrified, and in the second 
place, I should have been constantly uneasy about you. 
However, as this is to be the last time, I will let you go 
without grumbling.” 

“ By the way, Millicent, what do you wish me to say 
about our engagement? I don’t see that there is the 
slightest occasion for us to keep up the farce of your 
being Miss Conyers any longer. You cannot be married 
under a false name, you know, and now that you have 
escaped what your father was so afraid of, and are going 
to be married for love and not for money, I don’t see 
why there should be any more mystery about it.” 

“But how would you account for my having been 
called Conyers all this time ?” 

“ I should simply tell the truth : that your father, 
having a great fear that you might be married for 
money, left the estate to my father, to be held by him 
until you came of age, and that it was at his particular 
request that you were brought up simply as his ward, 
and dropped the family name and passed by your two 
Christian names. I should say that we have all been 
aware for a long time of the facts in the case, and I 
should also say that your father had left a very large 
fortune in addition to the estate between us, and had 
expressed a hope that we should, when the time came, 
marry each other.” 

“ Then people will think that we have only married to 
keep the fortune together, Mark.” 

“Well, my dear, I don’t suppose there are a great 
many people who will be interested in the matter, and 
those who get to know you will see at once that, as far 


278 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


as I am concerned, there was no great difficulty in fall- 
ing in with your father’s ideas, while, on the other hand, 
they may consider that you made a noble sacrifice of 
yourself in agreeing to the plan.” 

“ Nonsense, sir. I am not going to flatter you, as no 
doubt you expect ; but, at any rate, I am perfectly con- 
tent with my share of the bargain.” 

“Well, there is one thing, Millicent : all that knew 
us down at Reigate will say that it is a very sensible 
arrangement, and will be glad to know that I shall re- 
tain the estate they have hitherto considered to be 
mine. Well, then, you agree to my mentioning to my 
intimate friends that you are my cousin and that we are 
engaged ?” 

“Yes, I suppose it is the best thing, Mark ; and, as 
you say, I must marry under my proper name, and it 
is just as well to get the talk over down at Reigate 
now as for it all to come as a wonder when we are 
married.” 

“When is that going to be, Millicent?” 

“Oh, I don’t know ; of course, it will be a long time 
before we even think of that.” 

“ I beg your pardon, I am thinking of it now, and I 
can see no reason whatever why it should be delayed. 
We know each other well enough, I should think, and 
there is no probability of our changing our minds on 
discovering all sorts of faults that we never dreamt of 
each other having. I may be away for a fortnight, and 
I would suggest that you had better make your prepa- 
rations at once, so that we can be married a fortnight 
after I come back.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


2 79 


“You say that there is no fear of our discovering 
faults in each other. I can assure you that I have just 
discovered a very serious fault, namely, that you are 
altogether too masterful, too bent upon having your 
own way. I know you always were when you were a 
boy, but I had hoped that you had grown out of it. 
Now I see that I was altogether mistaken. Seriously, 
Mark, your proposal is absurd.” 

“ Where does the absurdity come in, Millicent ?” 

“Well, everywhere,” she said, gravely. 

“Which in the present case means nowhere,” he said. 
“ Do you mean to tell me, Millicent, that in this town 
there are not a hundred dress-makers each of whom 
could turn you out a wedding-dress and as many other 
garments as you can possibly require in the course of a 
month ; or, even if that effort were too stupendous, that 
you could not divide the work among a dozen of 
them ?” 

“Well, I don’t say that that could not be done,” 
Millicent said, reluctantly. 

“ Well, what other objection is there ?” 

“ Well, you see one does not like to be hurried about 
such a matter as this, Mark. One likes to think it all 
over and to realise it to oneself.’’ 

“ Well, dear, you will have a fortnight while I am 
away to think and to realise as much as you like. I 
can see no advantage myself in waiting a single day 
longer than there is a necessity for ; I have been for the 
last year coming here merely as a visitor, and I want to 
take possession of you and have you all to myself. I 
suppose Mrs. Cunningham will be coming in presently, 


280 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


and I will put the matter to her. If she says you can- 
not be ready in a month I must give you another week, 
but I don’t think that she will say so. By the way, how 
about her?” 

“ I was thinking of that last night, Mark. It would 
be very lonely for her to live by herself now, and you 
see she has always been as a mother to me.” 

“ Quite so, dear, and I am sure that I should have no 
objection to her coming back to Crowswood, and living 
there as a friend and helping you in the housekeeping.” 

“Thank you very much, Mark. I should like that 
in every way. You see I know nothing whatever about 
housekeeping, and besides, when you are out, it would 
be a great thing to have her with me, for it would be 
very lonely by myself in that big house.” 

“Well, we will have her there by all means, dear, if 
she likes to come. You had better talk it over with 
her. Ah ! here she is. We were just talking over the 
time it will take Millicent to get ready,” he said, “ and 
I shall be glad of your opinion. I have been telling 
her that I am going away for a fortnight, and have pro- 
posed that the marriage should come off a fortnight 
later. I cannot see any use in delay, and she does not 
either ; at least, I suppose not, for the only objection 
she has advanced is that there will be but a short time 
in which to get her things ready. That strikes me as 
all nonsense. I could get things ready for ten weddings 
in that time. What do you think?” 

“ I see no reason for delay, certainly,” Mrs. Cunning- 
ham said, “ and assuredly a month ought to be sufficient 
to get everything made.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


281 


“ Thank you, Mrs. Cunningham ; then we can con- 
sider that settled, Millicent !” 

“I call this tyranny, Mrs. Cunningham,” Millicent 
protested. “ He says he proposes that we shall be mar- 
ried in a month ; it is not a proposal at all, it is an 
order. If he wanted me in such a hurry he might have 
said so a year ago; and now that he has made up his 
mind at last he wants every thing done in a hurry.” 

“ It is the nature of men, my dear ; they are all alike 
in that respect. I think you had better make up your 
mind to it, especially as I have no doubt in this case the 
order is not a very unpleasant one.” 

“You are too bad, Mrs. Cunningham,” Millicent said. 
“ I made sure that I should find you an ally, and it 
seems you have gone over altogether to the enemy.” 

“Where are you going?” asked Mrs. Cunningham of 
Mark. 

“ I am going across to Amsterdam to sell that brace- 
let. My uncle expressed a particular wish to my father 
that he should do so immediately they came into his 
possession. Dick Chetwynd is going over with me, and 
if the weather is fair it will be a pleasant trip.” 

“Where are you thinking of going after the mar- 
riage ?” 

“We have not talked it over yet. My own idea is 
that as neither of us has been abroad we might as well 
take this opportunity for seeing something of the conti- 
nent. Of course, we cannot go to France, things are in 
too disturbed a state there, but we might go to Brussels, 
and then into Germany, and perhaps as far as Vienna, 
and then down into Italy ; but, of course, if Millicent 


282 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


prefers it, we will simply take a tour through England 
and Scotland.” 

“ Oh ! I am glad that I am to have some voice in the 
matter,” Millicent said; “however, I should like the 
tour you propose very much, Mark. I have often 
thought that I should like to see Italy above all places.” 

“Well, then, we will consider that settled. And now, 
what are you going to do for to-day?” 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

T HE “Essex” was to sail at eleven o’clock. Half 
an hour before that time Mark’s hackney coach 
drew up for a moment at the foot of Ludgate Hill. 
Dick Chetwynd at once stepped up to the door, spoke a 
few words with him, and quietly passed a small parcel 
into his hands ; then Mark drove on to the wharf. Dick 
walked back up Fleet Street as far as Temple Bar, and 
there hired another hackney coach, and followed him to 
the “ Essex.” He found Mark waiting for him at the 
wharf, and, hailing a boat, they went on board together. 
Both had sent their luggage down the night before. On 
getting on board, Mark saw the two prize-fighters walk- 
ing up and down the deck forward. They were quietly 
dressed, and save for their size would have attracted no 
attention, and would been taken for two countrymen on 
their way to Holland on business. 

The two detectives were seated forward, their appear- 
ance being that of two quiet business men, commercial 
travellers or small traders. The two friends first went 

283 


284 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

below and saw to the cabin which they were to share. 
Then they went on deck. Four or five other passengers 
were standing watching the last bales of goods coming 
on board. The tide was just on the turn, and a quarter 
of an hour later the warps were thrown off and some 
of the sails hoisted, and the “Essex” began to move 
through the water. 

“Look there, Dick,” Mark exclaimed. “Do you see 
that boat lying on its oars in the middle of the stream ? 
That man sitting in the stern is a foreigner, either from 
Southern Europe or from India.” 

“ He is certainly a dark man, Mark. Still, that may 
be only a coincidence.” 

“It is rather a curious one,” Mark said. “We are 
too far off to see his features, but he is apparently watch- 
ing us off There, the oars are dipping into the water. 
He sees that we are fairly under way.” 

“Well, Mark, I shall begin to think that you are right. 
I am bound to say that hitherto I thought that it was 
ridiculous to suppose that you could have been watched 
as you thought; that you had got these diamonds on 
your brain till you had really become fanciful. However, 
it certainly looks as if you were right ; but even if you 
were, how on earth could they have found out that we 
were going by this ship ?’ ’ 

“That is more than I can tell ; if they have been 
watching me they must have known that I was inti- 
mate with you ; they have seen me come out of Cotter’s 
Bank, and afterwards enter your lodgings ; they would 
feel sure that I had heard that there would be danger 
connected with the diamonds, and might suppose that I 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 285 

should get some friend to take them from the bank, and 
may have followed your movements as well as mine. 
In that case they would have found out that you also 
went to Cotter’s Bank, may have followed you to Tower 
Street, and found out that you had taken a passage for 
two to Amsterdam. They may again have seen you go 
to the bank this morning, and have guessed that you had 
the diamonds about you, and then, seeing us together on 
the wharf, would feel pretty certain that it was so. One 
of them may have hired that boat and watched the 
‘ Essex’ to see that neither of us went on shore again.” 

“ Now they see that we are off they will be sure that 
their game is up,” Chetwynd said. 

“ I am not so sure of that, Dick ; there are craft going 
every day to Antwerp and Flushing, and, for anything 
we know, some of them may be on board a craft already 
dropping down like ourselves by this tide. But even if 
we had twelve hours’ start, by landing, say, at Flushing, 
they would have time to cross by land to Amsterdam 
and get there before us.” 

“Yes, I suppose they would ; well, it is pretty certain 
that we shall not be troubled on the voyage.” 

“ Yes ; I never thought that there was much danger of 
that, because even if they were on board they would see 
that you and I, being always together, could not be got 
rid of without an alarm being given.” 

Not until they were passing Greenwich did either of 
the detectives come near Mark ; then, as he and Dick 
were standing by the bulwarks, looking at the hospital, 
Chester strolled across the deck, and, pointing to the 
building as if asking him some question about it, said, — 


286 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“There is a coloured man forward, dressed as a sailor.” 

“ Is that so ?” Mark said. “ I see no one aft here 
who looks suspicious, but I don’t think that they will 
try anything until we get to Amsterdam. There was a 
coloured man in a boat watching us as we set sail.” 

“ I saw him, sir ; can he get to Amsterdam before us ?” 

“Yes, I have no doubt he can ; if he lands at Flush- 
ing or Antwerp, and takes a post-chaise or a diligence, 
I should say he could get there twenty-four hours before 
us. Certainly he could do so if he landed at the Hague, 
as we have to go a long way round to get into the 
Zuyder Zee. That is where the real danger will be ; 
still, you had better keep a sharp lookout on the man 
forward.” 

No more was said. Mark was not long in getting into 
conversation with the other passengers aft, and later on 
strolled forward with Dick, asking the sailors some ques- 
tions as to what sort of passage they were likely to have 
and how the wind suited ; the men agreed that unless 
the wind shifted they would not be likely to make a 
quick passage. 

“The wind is northeasterly,” one of them said; 
“we can only just lay our course now, and it will be 
dead against us in some of the reaches. Well, I think 
we shall manage to make down to sea with only a tack 
or two, but when we are once fairly out of the river it 
will be a long leg and a short one, and going up round 
the Texel it will be dead against us, except that it 
would be worse if we had more east in it. It is about 
as foul a wind as we could have, and I don’t see any 
sign of a change, worse luck.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 287 

Presently, moving about among them, he got next to 
Gibbons. 

“I don’t think we shall have any trouble on board,” 
he said ; “ if there is any it will be after we have landed. 
But you can keep an eye on that foreign sailor standing 
alone there up in the bows.” 

“ All right, sir ; if you like I can manage to get into 
a quarrel with him, and can warrant that he won’t get 
out of his berth before it is time to go ashore.” 

“ No, I would leave him alone, Gibbons ; as long as 
he is forward he can do no harm, but if you see him 
working his way aft after it gets dark, it will do him no 
harm if you manage to stumble against him and give 
him a clout on the head.” 

“All right, sir; if I hit him once he won’t want 
another. The fellow seems quiet enough, and as far 
as strength goes he don’t look stronger than a girl.” 

After chatting for some time longer, Mark and Dick 
Chetwynd went aft again. The “ Essex” did not put 
into any intermediate port, and it was only on the sixth 
day after sailing that she approached Amsterdam. The 
voyage had passed off without any incident except that 
at nine o’clock one evening there had been a slight 
noise on deck and the sound of a fall. The friends went 
up at once. Several of the sailors had run aft, and 
Gibbons was explaining matters to them. 

“I was walking up and down the deck,” he said, 
“when I saw this chap staring down through the sky- 
light, and I said to him, ‘ I don’t call it good manners 
to be prying down into your better’s cabin.’ He did 
not answer or move, so I gave him a push, when he 


288 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


turned upon me like a wild-cat, and drew his knife 
from his girdle. There it is,” he said, glancing to the 
other side of the deck. “ As I did not want daylight 
put into me, I just knocked him down.” 

“ Served him right,” one of the sailors said. “He 
had no right to have come aft at all, and if he drew his 
knife on you, you were quite right in laying him out. 
But you must have hit him mighty hard, for you have 
knocked the life pretty near out of him. Well, we may 
as well carry him forward and throw a bucket of water 
over him. That is the worst of these foreign chaps : 
they are always so ready with their knives. However, 
I don’t think he will be likely to try his hand again 
with an Englishman.” 

Mark and his friend went below again. In the morn- 
ing Mark asked one of the sailors if the foreigner was 
much hurt. 

“Well, he is a good bit hurt, sir. That big chap 
looks as strong as a bullock, and his blow has flattened 
the foreign chap’s nose. He cannot see out of his eyes 
this morning, and is keeping his bunk. They cannot 
stand a blow, those foreign chaps ; but I don’t suppose 
that any of us would have stood such a blow as that 
without feeling it pretty heavy. The man who hit him 
is quite sorry this morning that he hit him quite so hot, 
but, as he says, when a fellow draws a knife on you, you 
have not got much time for thinking it over, and you 
have got to hit quick and hard. I told him he needn’t 
be sorry about it. I consider, when a fellow draws a 
knife, that hanging ain’t too bad for him, whether he 
gets it into a man or not.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


289 


There was a growl of assent from two or three sailors 
standing round, for in those days the use of the knife 
was almost unknown in England, and was abhorrent to 
Englishmen, both as being cowardly and unfair, and as 
being a purely foreign crime. 

“ It will be dark before we get alongside,” Mark said 
to the two detectives. “ Do you two walk first ; we 
will keep close behind you, and the others shall follow 
up as close as they can keep to us. If anyone is look- 
ing out for us, they will see that we are a strong party 
and that it would be no good to attack us, for even 
if they were to stab me it would not be possible to 
search me for the diamonds when I am with a party like 
this.” 

It was, indeed, quite dark when the brig brought up 
outside a tier of vessels lying by the wharf. A few oil- 
lamps burning by the quay showed that there were a 
good many people still sauntering about. The party 
waited until the rest of the passengers had landed. 
They learned from one of those who knew the place 
that the hotel to which they were going was but three 
or four hundred yards away, and obtained directions 
how to find it. 

“Now we will go,” Mark said. “Gibbons, you had 
better keep a sharp lookout on your own account. 
That fellow you knocked down may try to put a knife 
into you.” 

“ I will keep a sharp lookout, sir, never you fear.” 

“ I think, Tring, you had better watch ; he is more in 
danger than I am. Have you seen the man go on 
shore ?” 


19 


290 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“Yes, he was the very first to cross on to the next 
vessel,” Tring said. 

The loungers on the quay had gathered together to 
watch the passengers as they left the ship, and by the 
dim light from one of the oil-lamps it could be seen that 
the majority of them were of the roughest class. As 
they were passing through them, a man with a cry of 
rage sprang at Gibbons with an uplifted knife. Tring’s 
fist struck him under the ear as he was in the act of 
striking, and he fell like a log. There was a cry of 
“ Down with them !” and a rush of a score of men, most 
of whom were armed with heavy bludgeons. 

The party was at once broken up, heavy blows were 
exchanged, the two pugilists rolling their assailants over 
like ninepins, but receiving several heavy blows from 
their assailants’ clubs. A rush of five or six men sepa- 
rated Mark from the others. Those in front of him he 
struck down, but a moment later received a tremendous 
blow on the back of the head which struck him to the 
ground unconscious. His companions were all too busy 
defending themselves against their assailants to notice 
what had been done, and, as the attack had taken place 
in the centre of the roadway, behind the quay, there 
was no lamp, and the fight was taking place in almost 
total darkness. 

By this time many people had run up at the sound 
of the fray. A minute later there was a cry that the 
watch were coming, and four or five men with lanterns 
emerged from one of the streets leading down to the 
quays and hurried towards the spot. The fight at once 
ceased, the men who had attacked mingled with the 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


291 


crowd, and when the watch came up they found the five 
Englishmen clustered together and ten or twelve men 
lying on the ground. 

The instant that the fight had ceased Dick Chet- 
wynde asked, “Where is Mr. Thorndyke?” 

No answer was given. The other four men simul- 
taneously uttered exclamations of alarm. The crowd 
was thinning fast as the watch came up. 

“What is all this about?” one of them said, in 
Dutch. 

“Do any of you speak English?” Dick asked. 

“I do,” one of them said. 

“We landed five minutes ago from that craft,” con- 
tinued Dick, “ and as we came across we were attacked 
by a band of ruffians. An Englishman, one of our 
party, is missing.” 

“Whose bodies are these?” the watchman asked, 
raising his lantern and pointing to them. 

“ Perhaps Mr. Thorndyke is among them,” Dick 
Chetwynd said. 

The fallen figures were examined by the light of the 
lanterns. Mark was not among them. The watchmen 
uttered an exclamation of astonishment as they looked 
at the men’s faces. 

“What did you strike them with?” the one who 
spoke first asked. 

“Struck them with our fists, of course,” Gibbons 
replied. “ They will do well enough ; you need not 
bother about them, they will come round again presently. 
The question is, Where is Mr. Thorndyke?” 

The whole of the lookers-on had dispersed, each fear- 


292 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

ing that he might be charged with taking part in the 
outrage. 

“This is a very serious matter,” Chetwynd said. 
“We have every reason to believe that the attack was 
premeditated, for the gentleman who is missing was 
known to have some valuables on him ; all these fel- 
lows ought to be taken and locked up and made to give 
an account of themselves. We are going to the Hotel 
d’ Hollande, where you can find us at any time. I 
daresay some of these scoundrels are known to you, 
and that may give you a clue as to where Mr. Thorn- 
dyke is. 

“ I have but little hope that he will be found alive ; 
no doubt he has been stabbed and his body carried off, 
so that they can search his clothes at their leisure. We 
came in a strong party to prevent the risk of an attack 
upon Mr. Thorndyke. Here is my card. It is of no 
use our attempting to search by ourselves, but if you 
will get these fellows taken to the watch-house, and 
will call at the hotel, we will join any party, and search 
where you think he has most likely been taken.” 

“ I think, sir, you had better come with me to the 
watch-house, and see the lieutenant, and tell him what 
has happened.” 

“ I will just take my friends to the hotel, and shall be 
back from there before you have got men to take these 
fellows away. If you will go to one of those ships and 
borrow a bucket, fill it with water, and empty it over 
each of them, you will find that will bring them to.” 

As soon as they arrived at the hotel Dick ordered a 
private room and five bedrooms. 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


293 


“We have made a terrible mess of this, lads,” he 
said, gloomily. “ I don’t say that it is the fault of either 
of us, but it is a horrible affair. I have not the least 
doubt that Mr. Thorndyke has been killed, and it is no 
satisfaction to us that we have pretty nearly done for a 
dozen of those scoundrels.” 

“I would not have had it happen for a ^100, nor a 
^1000 ; if there had been daylight we could have licked 
a score of them in spite of their bludgeons, but they 
came with such a rush at us that we got separated before 
we were aware of it. I don’t think that it was our fault. 
I feel as much ashamed as if I had thrown up the sponge 
in the ring at the end of the first round. To think that 
we came over here, four of us, and yourself, sir, on pur- 
pose to take care of Mr. Thorndyke, and are all well, 
save a few knocks with those sticks, and that Mr. Thorn- 
dyke was killed and carried off before we had been on 
shore five minutes. A better young fellow I never put 
on the gloves with.” And Gibbons passed the back of 
his hand across his eyes. 

“Well, I must be off^ now,” Chetwynd said. “ I feel 
heartbroken over it ; I have known him since we were 
boys together ; but what makes it worse is that only 
three days ago he became engaged to be married. How 
we are going to take the news back God only knows.” 

As he hurried down the street towards the wharf, 
he saw a number of lanterns coming towards him, and 
ten or twelve watchmen came along escorting the pris- 
oners, many of whose faces were covered with blood ; 
then came four other watchmen carrying a body on a 
stretcher. 


294 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ One of them is dead,” the watchman who had be- 
fore spoken said to Dick. “A foreign seaman, a Lascar, 
I should say, from his colour ; we found an open knife 
by his side.” 

“That is the man who began the fray,” Chetwynd 
said. “ He was on the point of stabbing one of my 
companions when another hit him under the ear.” 

“What !” the watchman said. “ He must have been 
hit like the kick of a horse. All these prisoners seem 
to have been struck but once ; two of them cannot 
speak. I think their jaws are broken ; four of them 
have broken noses, and another has all his front teeth 
knocked out, while others are nearly as bad.” 

“ I see you have brought with you some of their blud- 
geons,” Dick said, pointing to one of the watchmen, 
who carried a great bundle of sticks over his shoulder. 

“Yes, sir, twenty-three of them ; it certainly seems to 
show that it was a planned thing. Most of these fel- 
lows’ faces are so bruised that I cannot say who they 
are at present, but two or three are known as the worst 
ruffians in the city, and I have no doubt that we shall 
find that they all belong to the same gang.” 

By this time they had arrived at the watch-house, a 
building of considerable size ; the prisoners were first 
lodged in a strong room with barred windows and very 
heavy doors, and then the watchman went with Chet- 
wynd to the lieutenant’s room. The officer had just 
returned, having hurried down with a reinforcement to 
the wharf as soon as he had heard of the fray, and tried 
to gather some information from the people who had 
gathered round, attracted by the lanterns of the watch. 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


295 


He had already learned from the watchmen all they 
knew about the affair. As he spoke English well, he at 
once addressed Dick : 

“This is a serious affair, sir.” 

“ A very serious affair, as, indeed, I am afraid that 
my dearest friend has been murdered.” 

“Will you kindly give me the particulars?” the 
officer said, sitting down to the table with a pen in 
his hand. 

Dick Chetwynd told him the story of how Mr. Thorn- 
dyke, having some very valuable jewels that he wished 
to dispose of, and believing that he would be attacked 
by a band of robbers, had asked him to accompany 
him, and had brought four detective officers and pugil- 
ists to protect him against any sudden attack. 

“ Ah, that accounts for the terrible blows that these 
fellows received,” the officer said. “And your friend, 
was he a strong man ?” 

“ He was a man exceptionally strong, and a match 
for either of the pugilists that he brought over. I have 
no doubt that he was stabbed, though of course he 
might have been brought down by a blow from one 
of the bludgeons. He must have been completely in- 
sensible when carried off. 

“The watchmen here tells me that three or four of 
these ruffians are known, and perhaps, if you will give 
orders for the blood to be washed off the others’ faces, 
some more may be recognised and prove an aid in 
enabling you to form an idea where Mr. Thorndyke 
has been carried. I trust that you will send out a party 
to search for him. I and the four men with me will 


296 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

gladly join them, and may be of use if any resistance 
is offered.” 

The lieutenant at once gave orders to the watchman 
to go down and see that the prisoners all washed their 
faces. As soon as he returned with the report that this 
was done the officer went down with Dick Chetwynd 
to examine them. Three or four of the men with 
lanterns also went in. Eight out of eleven men were 
recognised ; the other three, whose features were so 
swollen that they could not see out of their eyes, could 
not be made out, but their companions, on being ques- 
tioned, gave their names. 

“They all belong to a gang of wharf thieves and 
plunderers. They live in a slum near the water. I 
will have men posted in the lanes leading to it, and will 
myself go with you to see that a search is made of every 
house ; but first I will try to find out from these fellows 
where he was to be taken. Now, my men,” he said, 
“ any one of you who will tell me where one of the 
party you attacked was to be taken will find things 
made easy for him at his trial.” 

None of the men spoke for a minute, and then one 
said, — 

“We know nothing about it; how should we, when 
we were all knocked about?” 

“ No ; but you might know where he was to be 
taken.” 

“ I know nothing about that. We all got word to 
mind we were on the wharf when a brig, that was seen 
coming up, came alongside, and that we were to have 
a hundred francs each for attacking some of the pas- 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


297 


sengers as they landed. Six of them came along to- 
gether, and one said, ‘These are the men.’ A black 
sailor came up first and spoke to two or three men in 
some foreign language. I don’t know who the men 
were, it was too dark to see their faces. It was one of 
them who gave the order. It seemed an easy job 
enough when there were twenty-five of us with heavy 
sticks, but it didn’t turn out so. I only know that I hit 
one big fellow a blow that ought to have knocked him 
down, and the next moment there was a crash, and I 
didn’t know anything more about it until a lot of water 
was thrown over me, and one of the watch helped me 
to my feet. I don’t know whether the others know 
more than I do, but I don’t think they do.” 

All the others protested at once that they were equally 
ignorant. They had gone to earn a hundred francs. 
They had been told that the money was all right, but 
who found it or who were the men to be attacked they 
had not the least idea. 

“ How was it that you all had these bludgeons ? — 
there were no knives found on any of you.” 

The man who spoke before said, — 

“The order was, ‘No knives,’ and before we went 
down to the wharf each of us was searched and sticks 
given to us. I suppose from that, that whoever paid 
for the job didn’t want blood to be shed ; it suited us 
well enough, for it was a job there was sure to be a row 
over, and I don’t suppose any of us wanted to put his 
head in a noose. I know that we all said to one another 
as we went out that it did not want such sticks as we 
had to give a man a thrashing, but the man who hired 


298 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


us, whoever he was, knew his customers better than we 
did.” 

The officer translated the man’s words as they were 
spoken to Dick, and on hearing the last speech, the lat- 
ter said, — 

“Then there is still hope that Thorndyke may only 
have been stunned ; that is a greater reason for our 
losing no time in looking for him, for I am afraid that 
they won’t hesitate to kill him when they have got him 
hidden away.” 

“ I expect,” the lieutenant said, “ they thought that if 
any of the watch came upon them as they were carrying 
him off, they might be at once arrested if it was found 
that they were carrying a dead man, whilst if he were 
only stunned they would say that it was a drunken com- 
rade who had fallen and knocked his head against some- 
thing. I agree with you, sir ; we had better start on our 
search at once.” 

“Will you pass the Hotel d’ Hollande? If not, I will 
run and bring my men.” 

“Yes, I will go that way ; it will be no farther.” 

Dick walked on fast. 

“We have no news of him,” he said, as he entered 
the room where the four men were anxiously awaiting 
him, “ but we and the watch are now going to search 
the slums where the men who were taken prisoners all 
live ; come down now, and I will tell you what I have 
learned before the others come up. There is reason for 
believing that he was not stabbed,” he went on, as they 
reached the street, “ for the men all say that they were 
armed only with clubs, and that the strictest orders were 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


299 


given that none were to carry knives, therefore they have 
little doubt that he was at the time only stunned. I am 
bound to say that this gives me very small ground for 
hoping that we may find him alive. I fear they only 
stunned him so they might carry him to their haunts, for 
if stopped, they could say it was a drunken comrade 
who had fallen and hurt himself. I fear that when they 
once get him into one of their dens they will make short 
work of him ; therefore it is clear that there is not a 
moment to be lost. Ah, here comes the watch.” 

There were eight men with the lieutenant. 

“ I have already sent off ten others,” he said, as he 
joined Chetwynd, “ to watch the lanes and let no one 
go in or out. I thought it best not to lose a moment 
about that, for when the men see that we have learnt 
from the others where the gang came from, and have 
closed the avenues of escape, they will hesitate about 
murdering their prisoner if he is still alive when my men 
get there.” 

In a quarter of an hour they arrived at the end of a 
narrow lane where two watchmen were standing with 
lanterns. 

“You have seen or heard nothing?” the lieutenant 
asked him. 

“No, sir ; we have not seen a man moving in the lane.” 

“There is just one hope that we might be in time,” 
the lieutenant said, as he went on down the lane, “ and 
that is, that the fellows, when they gather, will be so dis- 
mayed at finding that nearly half their number are miss- 
ing, and know that some of them are pretty sure to make 
a clean breast of it, that they will hesitate to complete 


300 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


their crime. It is one thing to rob a man in the streets ; 
quite another to murder him in cold blood. There is 
likely to be a good deal of difference of opinion among 
them, some of the more desperate being in favour of 
carrying the thing through, but others are sure to be 
against it, and nothing may have been done. You may 
be sure that the sight of my men at the end of the lanes 
will still further alarm them. I have no doubt the news 
that we have surrounded the district has already been 
circulated, and that if alive now he is safe, for they will 
think it better to suffer a year or two’s imprisonment 
than to be tried for murder. We are sure to make some 
captures, for it is probable that several of the others 
will bear marks of the fight. Each man we take we 
will question separately ; one or other of them is pretty 
safe to be ready to say where your friend was taken, if 
I promise him that he shan’t be prosecuted.” 

Every house in the district was searched from top to 
bottom. Six men, with cut and bruised faces, were 
found shamming sleep, and were separately questioned 
closely. All declared that they knew nothing whatever 
of anyone being carried there. 

“ It is of no use your denying your share in the affair,” 
the lieutenant said. “Your comrades have confessed 
that there were twenty-five of you hired to commit this 
outrage, and that you received a hundred francs each. 
Now, if this gentleman is not found it will be a hanging 
matter for some of you, and you had better tell all you 
know. If you will tell us where he is, I will promise 
that you shan’t be included in the list of those who will 
be prosecuted.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


30i 

The reply, though put in different words, was identical 
with that of the prisoners. 

“We had nothing to do with carrying him off We 
were hired only to knock the men down who were 
pointed out to us. Not a word was said about carrying 
them off He may have been carried off ; that we can- 
not say ; but he has certainly not been brought here, 
and none of us had anything to do with it.” 

Morning was breaking before the search was con- 
cluded. The detectives, accustomed as they were to 
visit the worst slums of London, were horrified at the 
crowding, the squalor, and the misery of the places they 
entered. 

“ My opinion, Mr. Chetwynd,” Gibbons growled, “ is 
that the best thing to do would be to put a score of 
soldiers at the end of all these lanes, and then to burn 
the whole place down and make a clean sweep of it. I 
never saw such a villainous-looking crew in all my life. 
I have been in hopes all along that some of them would 
resist. It would have been a real pleasure to have let 
fly at them.” 

“ They are a villainous set of wretches, Gibbons, but 
they may not be all criminals.” 

“Well, I don’t know, sir; but I know that if I were 
on a jury, and any of the lot were in the dock, I should 
not want to hear any evidence against them ; their faces 
are enough to hang them.” 

At last the search was over, and they were glad, in- 
deed, when they emerged from the lanes and breathed 
the pure air outside, for all the Englishmen felt sick from 
the poisonous air of the dens that they had entered. 


302 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


The prisoners as they were taken had been sent off to 
the watch-house. 

“ I begin to think that the story these fellows tell is a 
true one, Mr. Chetwynd,” the lieutenant said, “and 
that they had nothing to do with carrying your friend 
off. In the first place, they all tell the same story; that 
in itself would not be much, as it might have been 
settled beforehand ; but it is hardly likely that one of 
the lot would not have been ready to purchase his life 
by turning on the others. There is very little honour 
among thieves ; and as they know that we have taken 
their mates, — for no doubt we were watched as we 
marched them up the town, — they would make sure 
that someone would turn traitor, and would think they 
might as well be beforehand. I fancy that the men — 
whoever they are — who hired this gang to attack you, 
carried out that part of the business themselves.” 

“ I am afraid that is so,” Dick agreed ; “ and I fear in 
that case that he is in even worse hands than if these 
ruffians here had taken him.” 

“ Well, sir, can you furnish us with any clue ?” 

“ The only clue is that they were most probably dark 
men. That man who was killed was undoubtedly one 
of them. I should say that they would probably be got 
up as foreign sailors.” 

“ Well, that is something to go upon, at any rate. I 
will send round men at once to all the places by the 
quays where sailors board, and if three or four of them 
have been together at any place we are sure to hear of 
it, and the moment I have news I will send to your 
hotel.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


303 


“Thank you ; I don’t see that we can be of any use 
at present, but you will find us ready to turn out again 
the moment we hear that you have news.” 

When the party returned to the hotel they sat talk- 
ing the matter over for upwards of an hour. All were 
greatly discouraged, for they had little hope, indeed, of 
ever learning what had become of Mark. As they had 
started out, Dick had told the night porter that he could 
not say what time they might return, but that before the 
house closed he must have a couple of bottles of spirits, 
and some tumblers sent up to their sitting-room, to- 
gether with some bread and cold meat, for that they 
might not return until morning, and would need some- 
thing before they went to bed, as they had had nothing 
since their dinner, at one o’clock. 

“ It wants something to take the taste of that place 
out of one’s mouth,” Tring said to Dick, as, directly 
they entered, he poured some spirits into the glasses. 
“ I feel as queer as if I had been hocussed.” 

All, indeed, were feeling the same, and it was not until 
they had eaten their supper and considerably lowered 
the spirits in the two bottles that they began to talk. 
The two detectives were the principal speakers, and both 
of these were of opinion that the only shadow of hope 
remaining rested upon Mark himself. 

“ Unless they finished him before he came round,” 
Malcolm said, “they would find him an awkward custo- 
mer to deal with. Mr. Thorn dyke has got his head 
screwed on right, and if, as you say, they are Indians, 
Mr. Chetwynd, I should think that if he once comes 
fairly round, unless he is tied up, he will be a match for 


304 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


them, even with their knives ; that is the only chance I 
see. Even if the watch do find out that three or four 
foreign sailors have been at one of the boarding-houses 
and did not turn up last night, I don’t think that we 
shall be much nearer. They will probably only have 
carried him some distance along the wharf, got to some 
quiet place where there is a big pile of wood or some- 
thing of that sort, then put a knife into him, searched 
for the diamonds, which you may be sure they would 
find easily enough wherever he had hidden them, and 
then made off, most likely for Rotterdam or the Hague ; 
they could be at either of these places by this time, and 
will most likely divide the diamonds and get on board 
different craft, bound for London or Hull, or, indeed, any 
other port, and then ship for India. From what Mr. 
Thorndyke said, they did not want the diamonds to sell, 
but only to carry back to some temple from which they 
were stolen twenty years ago.” 

Chester was of precisely the same opinion. 

“I am afraid, Mr. Chetwynd,” he added, as they rose 
to go to their rooms for two or three hours’ sleep, “ the 
only news that we shall get in the morning is that Mr. 
Thorndyke’s body has been found.” 



CHAPTER XIX. 

A T ten o’clock a constable came with a message 
from the lieutenant to Mr. Chetwynd that he 
would be glad if he would come down to the 
watch-house. Dick did not wake the others, but fresh- 
ening himself up by pouring a jug of water over his 
head, went at once with the constable. 

“ Have you news ?” he asked, eagerly, as he entered. 
“Yes, the men returned an hour ago. At each of 
four houses they went to a foreign sailor had been 
lodging for the last day or so, but yesterday afternoon 
all had paid their reckonings and left. Then the idea 
struck me that it would be as well to ask if they had 
been seen on the quays, and I sent off a fresh batch 
of men to make enquiries. A quarter of an hour ago 
one of them came back with the news that he had 
learned from a sailor that he had noticed a dark-col- 
oured foreigner, whom he took to be a Lascar sailor, 
talking to a boatman, and that they had rowed off 

20 305 


3°6 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


together to a barge anchored a short way out ; he did 
not notice anything more about him. 

“ Now, I should not be at all surprised if the fellow 
went off to arrange with the bargeman for a passage 
for himself and four or five comrades to some port or 
other ; it might be anywhere. It would make no dif- 
ference to them where the barge was bound for. No 
doubt he saw the man again after the brig was sighted, 
and told him that they should come on board soon after 
it got dark, and told him to have the boat at the stairs. 
You see in that case they might not have carried Mr. 
Thorndyke above fifty or a hundred yards. They 
would probably get him on board as one of their party 
who had been drunk. The barge no doubt got under 
weigh about nine o’clock, which is the hour when tide 
was high last night, and during the night the Indians 
could easily drop your friend overboard — and may even 
have done so before they got under weigh, which would 
have been the easiest thing to do. There would have 
been no one at the helm, and they could have chosen 
a moment when the crew, probably only three, were 
below. I am afraid that this is not a cheering lookout, 
but I have little doubt that it is the correct one. 

“ I have told my men to find out what barge was 
lying at the spot the sailor pointed out, and if we dis- 
cover her name, which we are likely to be able to do, 
there will be no difficulty in finding out to whom she 
belongs, and where she was bound for. Then we can 
follow it up ; though there is little likelihood of our 
finding the murderers still on board.” 

“Thank you very much for the pains that you are 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


307 


taking, sir,” Dick said. “I am afraid that there is no 
shadow of hope of finding my poor friend alive. I 
have no doubt that the thing has happened exactly as 
you suggest ; the whole course of the affair shows how 
carefully it was planned, and I have no hope that any 
scruple about taking life would be felt by them for a 
moment. I will go back to the hotel, and I shall be 
obliged if you will let me know as soon as you obtain 
any clue as to the barge.” 

An hour and a half later the officer himself came 
round to the room where Dick Chetwynd and the two 
pugilists were sitting. The detectives had started out 
to make enquiries on their own account, taking with 
them a hanger-on at the hotel, who spoke English. 

“The barge’s name was the ‘ Julie,’ ” he said ; “she 
has a cargo on board for Rotterdam.” 

“ I think the best thing would be to take a carriage 
and drive there at once,” Dick said. 

“You can do that, sir, but I don’t think you will 
be there before the barge ; they have something like 
eighteen hours’ start of you, and the wind has been all 
the time in the east. I should say that they would be 
there by eight o’clock this morning.” 

“ No, I don’t know that it would be of any use, but 
at least it would be doing something. I suppose we 
could be there in four hours ?” 

“ From that to five ; but even if the barge were de- 
layed and you got there first, which is very unlikely, I 
do not think that there would be the remotest chance 
of finding those villains on board. I reckon they 
would, as we agreed, launch the body overboard even 


3°8 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


before they got under weigh here, and they may either 
have landed again before the craft got under weigh, pre- 
tending that they had changed their minds, and then 
walked across to the Hague or to Haarlem, or have 
gone on with the barge for two hours, or even until day- 
break. If by that time they were near Rotterdam, 
they may have stayed on board till they got there ; if 
not, they may have landed and finished the journey on 
foot ; but they would certainly not have stopped on 
board after six or seven o’clock in the morning. They 
would calculate that possibly we might get on their 
track at an early hour this morning and set out in pur- 
suit at once. 

“ However, it will doubtless be a satisfaction to you 
to be moving ; and at least you will be able to over- 
haul the barge when you get to Rotterdam, and to hear 
what the boatmen say. The chances are they will not 
even have noticed that one of the men who came on 
board was missing. The men may very well have made 
up a long bundle, carried it on shore with them, or three 
of them may have carried a fourth ashore ; and in the 
dark the bargemen were unlikely to have noticed that 
the number was less than when they came on board. 
However, it will be something for you to find out when 
and where the fellows landed.” 

“Yes ; I should certainly like to lay hands on them, 
though I am afraid we should find it very hard to prove 
that they had anything to do with this affair.” 

“ I think that also, Mr. Chetwynd. Morally, we may 
feel absolutely certain ; but, unless the boatmen noticed 
that one of their number was missing when they landed, 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


309 

we have at present no evidence to connect them with 
it.” 

“We will set out as soon as my other two men re- 
turn. I told them to be back soon after twelve. I will 
write to you this evening from Rotterdam. Ah ! here 
are the men.” 

The door opened, and, to the stupefaction of the party, 
Mark Thorndyke entered the room. 

“ Good heavens, Mark !” Dick exclaimed, springing 
forward and seizing his hand. “ Is it really you alive in 
the flesh ? We had given you up for dead. We have 
been searching the town for you all night, and were just 
going to set out for Rotterdam in search of a barge on 
which we believed you were carried. Why, it seems 
almost a miracle.” 

The two prize-fighters also came forward and shook 
hands with a pressure that would have made most men 
shrink. 

“I am as glad, Mr. Thorndyke,” Gibbons said, “as if 
anyone had given me ^1000. I have never quite given 
up hope, for, as I said to Mr. Chetwynd, if you got but 
a shadow of a chance you would polish off those nigger 
fellows in no time ; but I was afraid that they never 
would give you a chance. Well, I am glad, sir.” 

“ Mark, this is the lieutenant of the watch here,” 
Dick said ; “ he has been most kind, and has himself 
headed the search that has been made for you all night. 
Now tell us all about it.” 

“ First of all, give me something to drink, for, except 
some water, I have had nothing since dinner yesterday. 
You are right, Dick ; it is almost a miracle, even to me, 


3io 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


that I am here. I would not have given a penny for my 
chance of life, and I can no more account for the fact 
that I am here than you can.” 

Mark drank off a tumbler of weak spirits and water 
that Gibbons poured out for him. Chetwynd rang the 
bell and ordered lunch to be brought up at once. Just 
at this moment the two detectives came in and were 
astonished and delighted at finding Mark there. 

“ Now,” he said, “ I will tell you as much as I know, 
which is little enough. When I came to my senses I 
found myself lying on the deck of a craft of some sort ; 
it was a long time before I could at all understand how 
I got there. I think it was the pain from the back of 
my head that brought it to my mind that I must have 
been knocked down and stunned in that fight ; for some 
time I was very vague in my brain as to that, but it all 
came back suddenly, and I recalled that we had all got 
separated. I was hitting out, and then there was a crash. 
Yes, I must have been knocked down and stunned, and 
I could only suppose that in the darkness and confusion 
I had been carried off and taken on board without any 
of you missing me ; my hands and feet were tied, and 
there was something shoved into my mouth that pre- 
vented me from speaking. 

“ I should think that it must have been an hour before 
I quite recovered my senses, and got the thing fairly 
into my mind. Then a man with a knife leant over me, 
and made signs that if I spoke he would stab me, and 
another took the gag out of my mouth and poured 
some water down my throat, and then put it in again. 
I saw that he was a dark-coloured man, and I then 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


3i i 

understood it all ; it was those Hindoos who had got up 
the attack upon us, and had carried me off. I had no 
doubt they had got the diamonds I had sewn up in the 
waistband of my trousers. I wondered why they were 
keeping me, but was sure they would stab me presently 
and throw me overboard. I knew that they had killed 
two soldiers for the sake of the diamonds, and if it 
hadn’t been that they had given me the water, I should 
not have had a shadow of doubt about my fate. 

“ I puzzled over why they should have done so, and 
came to the conclusion that they dared not do it on 
board, because of the crew, and that they intended to 
take me on shore somewhere, and there dispose of me. I 
made many attempts to loosen my ropes, but they would 
not give the slightest. At last I think I dozed off for a 
time. After I had had the water they drew a blanket or 
something of that sort over me. It had been there before, 
but it had only been pulled up as high as my nose, and I 
felt sure that it was only done to prevent the Dutchmen 
on the boat seeing that I was bound and gagged ; this 
time they pulled it right over my face. When they took 
it off again I could see it was nearly morning, for there 
was a faint light in the sky. They were moving about 
on the deck, and presently I saw one of the sailors get into 
the boat and pull it along, hand over hand, by the rail 
until he was close to me. Then four Lascar sort of 
chaps — I could scarcely make out their features — lifted 
me and lowered me into the boat and got in themselves. 

“I did not attempt to struggle. No doubt they had 
made up some tale that I was mad or something of 
that sort, and I thought that I had best pretend to be 


312 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


quiet and peaceable till I could see some sort of chance 
of making a fight for it. It was but a few yards from 
the shore. The men lifted me out on to the bank, and 
the sailor then started to row back to the barge ; they 
carried me a few yards away, and then laid me face 
downwards on some grass. Now, I thought to myself, 
it is all over ; they are going to stab me and make off. 
To my surprise I felt that they were doing something — 
I could not make out what — to the ropes ; then there 
was quiet. I lay there I should think for half an hour, 
wondering why on earth they did not finish me. At last 
I made up my mind to move, and turned over on to my 
back. As I lay there I could see no one, and, raising my 
head, looked around. To my amazement I found that I 
was alone. It was now almost light, and as I craned my 
head in all directions I assured myself that they had 
gone ; then I began to try again at the ropes. 

“ To my surprise I found that they were much looser 
than they were before, although still tight enough to 
give me nearly an hour’s work before I got my hands 
free. Then it took me almost as long to get the ropes 
off my legs, for they had knotted them in such a fearful 
and intricate way that it was a long time before I could 
even discover where the ends were. At last I finished 
the job, stood up, and looked round. A quarter of a 
mile off there was a good-sized town, but not a soul 
could I see. Till now I had hardly thought of the 
diamonds. I put my hands to my waistband and found, 
as I expected, that they were gone. I think I felt 
nothing but pleasure : the confounded things had given 
trouble enough, and I was well rid of them. Why they 



a 


It took me almost as long to get the ropes off my legs.” 





THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


313 


should have spared my life I could not imagine. If 
they had finished me, which they could have done with- 
out any risk to themselves when they got me ashore, 
they could have gone off with the diamonds without the 
slightest fear of pursuit, while now there was, of course, 
a chance that I might follow and recognise them.” 

“ Would you know them again ?” the lieutenant inter- 
rupted. 

“Not in the slightest ; it was light enough to see that 
they were dark, but from the time the boat came along 
the blanket was over my head, and except when they 
gave me the water I had no chance of seeing any of 
their features. Still, if I had gone straight to the town 
I saw and reported the matter to the authorities, and 
sent mounted men to all the ports to warn them not to 
let any coloured men embark, I might have given them 
a lot of trouble, but I don’t suppose any of them would 
ever have been caught. After the craft they had shown 
in the whole matter, it is certain that they would have 
laid their plans for escape so well that the law would 
never have laid hands upon them. I put my hand 
mechanically to my watch to see the time, and to my 
astonishment discovered that I still had it in my pocket, 
and was equally surprised to find that the money in my 
trousers’ pockets was also untouched. The watch had, 
of course, stopped. I first of all went down to the 
water and had a good wash ; then I proceeded to the 
town, and, going to a hotel, ordered breakfast.” 

“ Why, I thought you said that you had had nothing 
to eat, Mark.” 

“Yes? Well, I had forgotten all about that break- 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


3H 

fast The people looked a good deal surprised at an 
Englishman walking in in that way. While I was eat- 
ing my breakfast, two men — who were, I suppose, 
authorities of some kind — who spoke English came 
and questioned me. As I had made up my mind to 
say nothing more about the affair, I merely told them 
that I had come for a sail from Amsterdam, and that I 
wanted a carriage to take me back. They were evi- 
dently astonished at my choosing a dark night for such 
a trip, but I said that I had the curiosity to see how 
the boatmen navigated their vessel when there were no 
light-houses or anything to steer by. They asked a few 
more questions, and then went away, evidently thinking 
that I was a little mad. However, they must have 
spoken to the landlord, who in a short time made signs 
that the carriage was at the door. 

“ I had avoided asking the men either the name of 
the place or how^r it was from any big town, because 
that would have made the whole affair more singular. 
It was quarter-past eight when I started, and beyond 
the fact that from the sun I know we came pretty nearly 
due east, I have not the slightest idea of the road. 
The coachman could not speak a word of English. I 
should say we came about seven miles an hour, and 
stopped once to bait the horses, so I suppose that I 
must have been between four and five miles from Rot- 
terdam when I landed.” 

Lunch had by this time been laid on the table, and at 
Dick’s invitation the lieutenant joined them. 

“ It is an extraordinary story !” he said. “ That your 
life should have been spared is altogether beyond my 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


315 


comprehension ; still more so why they should have left 
you your money and watch.” 

“The whole story is extraordinary,” Dick Chetwynd 
said ; “ for we have every reason to believe that those 
fellows, or at least one or two of them, have been pa- 
tiently watching for a chance of carrying off those dia- 
monds for twenty years. When my friend told me of 
it ten days ago I did not believe that it could be possi- 
ble ; but he has certainly shown that he was correct in 
his opinion.” 

Mark then related the history of the jewels, surprising 
the pugilists and detectives as much as the lieutenant. 

“It is extraordinary, indeed,” the latter said. “I 
should not have believed it possible that men could 
have devoted so many years to such a purpose, nor that 
they could have succeeded in tracing the diamonds in 
spite of the precaution taken by your uncle, and after- 
wards by yourself. It would seem thM from the time 
he landed in England he, and after him your father and 
yourself, must have been watched almost night and day. 

I can understand now why they did not take your watch 
and money. They evidently acted from a sort of re- 
ligious enthusiasm, and were no ordinary thieves, but, as 
evidently they did not hesitate to kill, I cannot under- 
stand why they should have added to their risks by 
sparing you.” 

“No; that is what puzzles me,” Mark agreed. “I 
was thinking it over while we were driving here. Now 
let me hear about the fight, Dick. How did you all 
come out of it ?” 

“As well as could be expected. Gibbons and Tring 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


316 

both got some heavy blows with the cudgels, as, indeed, 
we all did more or less, but they did great execution. 
Eleven fellows were left senseless on the ground, and 
one of them, that black fellow who came over with us, 
was killed. The other ten are all in prison. All of us 
did our best, and managed to leave our mark on eight 
others, who were in consequence picked out, and are 
also in gaol.” Dick went on to relate the particulars of 
the search. 

“ You see our friend here had traced you to the barge 
and found out her destination, and if you had come ten 
minutes later you would have found that we had all just 
started for Rotterdam. I was only waiting for Chester 
and Malcolm to return to set out. I am sorry, Mark, 
that you have lost your diamonds ; not so much because 
they are gone, for I can well understand you to be thor- 
oughly glad to be rid of such dangerous articles, but 
because they should have carried them off in our teeth, 
after we had been specially retained to protect you. I 
certainly thought that with such a body-guard you were 
absolutely safe from any number of Hindoos.” 

“ Yes, we made a regular mess of it, Mr. Thorndyke,” 
Gibbons said. “ I never felt so certain of winning a 
battle as I did that you would not be touched as long as 
we were looking after you. Tring and I, if we had been 
asked, would have said that we could each have taken 
on a dozen foreigners easily. Mr. Chetwynd is handy 
with his fists, too, though he hasn’t your weight and 
reach, and your two other friends are both pretty well 
accustomed to deal with rough customers. As for Tring 
and me, it makes one feel small to know that we have 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


3i7 


been bested by a handful of niggers, or Hindoos or 
whatever the chaps are, whom a good-sized boy of 
twelve ought to be able to polish off.” 

“Now, Mark, what is to be done next?” Dick Chet- 
wynd asked. 

“The next thing will be to get back as soon as we 
can, Dick. I, for one, have had enough of Holland to 
last me for a lifetime.” 

“I am afraid, gentleman,” the lieutenant said, “you 
will have to wait a day or two before you can leave. I 
have eighteen men in prison, and will get a meeting of 
magistrates this afternoon. Now you have come back, 
Mr. Thorndyke, the charge against them won’t be as 
serious as it would have been before, but they are guilty 
of a desperate and premeditated assault upon six pas- 
sengers on their arrival here ; they have already admit- 
ted that they were paid for their work, and as among 
them are some of the worst characters in the city, you 
may be sure that now we have got them fairly in our 
hands we shall not let them go. It is so simple an affair 
that the investigation ought not to take long, but we 
shall want to find out, if we can, who acted as the inter- 
mediary between the Hindoos and the prisoners. I 
should think that two meetings ought to be sufficient 
for the present, but I am afraid that there may then be 
a long remand, and that you will either have to remain 
here or to come over again.” 

“ It would be a horrible nuisance,” Dick said ; “ still 
it would be better to come back again than to wait here 
indefinitely, and anyhow I don’t suppose it would be 
necessary for all of us to come back again.” 


318 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ I should not mind if it could be arranged for me to 
be here again in a month’s time,” Mark agreed, “ for, to 
tell you the truth, I am going to be married in less than 
three weeks, and as I had intended to come to Brussels 
and afterwards to travel for a while, I could make a visit 
here without greatly putting myself out.” 

“I will try and arrange that, Mr. Thorndyke.” 

“ I shall be glad,” Mark said, “if you can manage to 
get the men sentenced without going into the question 
of the diamonds at all, and treat the matter as a mere 
attempt at robbery. It surely would not be necessary 
to bring the question of my being carried away into the 
matter at all ; I can give evidence that I was knocked 
down and stunned, and that I was robbed of some jewels 
that I had about me, which were the object of the at- 
tack.” 

“ I think we should have to admit that,” the lieuten- 
ant said ; “ it must come out that the attack was an 
organised one.” 

“Well, if it must, it must,” Mark said, reluctantly; 
“but then, you see, no end of questions would be asked, 
and the thing might be delayed while a search is being 
made for the men who stole the bracelet.” 

“ Well, we will keep it out of the question if we can,” 
the lieutenant said ; “ the meeting will be at three 
o’clock ; I will send a man to take you to the town 
hall.” 

At the appointed hour the party proceeded to the 
court, and the eighteen prisoners, under a strong guard, 
having been brought in, six magistrates took their places 
on the bench ; the rest of the court was crowded, the 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


3i9 


fray on the wharf and the number of captures having 
created quite a stir in the city. They had arranged that 
Tring should first give his evidence, which he did, the 
lieutenant of the watch acting as interpreter, though 
most of the magistrates understood English. The ap- 
pearance of the prisoners created quite a sensation in 
the court, for the injuries that they had received were 
now even more conspicuous than they had been when 
they were first captured ; some of them had to be led 
into court, their eyes being completely closed ; others had 
their heads bandaged, and all showed signs of tremen- 
dous punishment. Tring related that he, with five others, 
had come ashore together ; one of his companions had a 
row on board a ship they had crossed in with a Lascar 
sailor, who was a passenger, and they kept together as 
they were crossing the wharf, thinking that possibly the 
man might attempt to stab his companion. 

“I was walking behind him,” Tring went on, “when 
the Lascar jumped suddenly out from among the men 
standing about, and was about to stab my companion, 
when I hit him just in time, and he went down ; then 
there was a rush, and we all got separated, and did as 
well as we could until the watch came up. That is all 
that I know about it” 

“Is the Lascar among the prisoners?” one of the 
magistrates asked the lieutenant of the watch. 

“ No, sir. When picked up by one of my men he 
was found to be dead. The blow had apparently killed 
him instantly.” 

The other five then gave their evidence. It was 
similar to that of Tring, save that, being in front of 


320 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


him, they knew nothing of the attack by the Lascar. 
All they knew about it was that there was a sudden rush 
upon them by a number of men armed with bludgeons, 
that they were separated, and that each defended him- 
self until the guard came up. 

Some of the watch then gave evidence, and told how, 
on arriving at the spot, eleven of the prisoners were 
found lying senseless ; how, on recovering, they were all 
taken to the watch-house, where several of them were 
recognised as notorious, bad characters. They had 
admitted that they were paid to make the attack, which 
was apparently the result of the private enmity of some 
person or persons unknown to one or more of those 
attacked. 

The lieutenant then related the steps that he had 
taken to capture others connected with the attack, and 
that he found eight men bearing marks of the fray, and 
that all these were also notorious characters, and associ- 
ates of the prisoners first taken. The first witnesses 
were again questioned. Five of them said that, so far 
as they knew, they had no personal enemies. Mark, 
who was the last to get into the witness-box, said that 
he himself had no enemies, but that an uncle of his, 
who was in the British Indian service, had a sort of feud 
with some members of a sect there on account of some 
jewels that he had purchased, and which had, they 
declared, been stolen from a temple. Two soldiers, 
through whose hands these things had passed, had been 
successively killed by them, and his uncle had to the day 
of his death believed that their vengeance would one day 
fall upon him. 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


321 


“I can only suppose,” continued Mark, “that I have 
inherited the enmity that they bore him as I inherited 
the jewels, and that the attack was really designed solely 
against me, and the consequences might have been fatal 
to me had it not been for the strength and courage of my 
fellow-passengers. ’ ’ 

“ Did they come with you for your protection, Mr. 
Thorndyke ?” 

“To some extent, yes. The fact is, that I have for 
some time been convinced that I was followed about by 
natives of India, and, remembering what my uncle had 
said on the subject, I became to some degree apprehen- 
sive, and thought it as well to leave London for a short 
time. That this attack was really instigated by the men 
I have no doubt whatever, since, as you have heard, it 
was begun by a Lascar, who tried to stab one of my 
companions, and who received a knock-down blow that 
caused his death from one of the others. It is a well- 
known fact that these people will cherish for many years 
a determination to avenge an injury. However, I hope 
that after the failure of this attempt upon my life I shall 
hear no more of them.” 

“Were any knives found on the prisoners?” the 
magistrates asked the lieutenant of the watch. 

“No, sir; all carried clubs. And they told me 
that they had been specially ordered not to take 
knives, and had, indeed, been searched before they 
came out.” 

“What impression do you gather from that, Mr. 
Thorndyke?” 

“ My impression is, sir, that they desired to over- 
21 


322 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


power those with me and to beat them down, in order 
to carry out their revenge upon me.” 

After some consultation the magistrate who had be- 
fore spoken said, — 

“The prisoners will be remanded. It is necessary 
that we should find out who was the chief culprit who 
bribed this gang.” 

As soon as the prisoners were taken out of court 
Mark slipped across to the magistrates, accompanied 
by the lieutenant as interpreter. 

“ I hope, gentlemen, that our presence here will not 
be necessary, for it would be a matter of extreme in- 
convenience. I may say that my marriage is fixed for 
to-day three weeks, hence you can well imagine that I 
want to return as soon as possible. Two of the men 
are, as you have heard, Bow Street officers, whose 
presence could not well be spared.” 

The magistrates again consulted together. 

“Your evidence has all been taken down by the 
clerk of the court. Certainly we should not require 
your presence at the remand ; but that, of course, 
would depend upon whether these men all own their 
guilt, which, having been taken, as they may say, red- 
handed, it is likely enough they will do. We will con- 
sent, therefore, to your leaving, if you will give us an 
undertaking to return for the trial if your presence is 
at all necessary, and that you will bring with you the 
man who struck down the Lascar who commenced the 
fray, and one of the others.” 

“That I will do willingly,” Mark replied. “We are* 
much obliged to you for your consideration. I shall be 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


323 


travelling for a time after my marriage ; but should I 
hear from you that our presence is required, I will give 
you the route I intend to take and the address at which 
letters will find me, and if you send me a sufficiently 
long notice I will at once return for the trial.” 



CHAPTER XX. 

“ \ 70U managed that very well, Mark,” Dick said. 

“You kept well within the limits of truth with- 
out bring the real facts of the attack upon us 
into the case.” 

“ Well, you see, Dick, after working as I told you as 
a detective, one gets into the way of telling stories with 
the smallest amount of deviation possible. What will 
these fellows get done to them ?” 

“ I should say that they will get two or three years’ 
imprisonment ; the only charge now is rioting and as- 
sault. It is lucky for them that they had clubs instead 
of knives. It would have brought the matter under 
the head of attempted murder ; the matter of the gems 
was not important in the case, but there is sure to be a 
great fuss and search for the missing Indians. I suppose 
you will soon be off home now?” 

“ Yes ; I shall find out to-night what vessel leaves for 
England to-morrow, and take a berth in the first that 
sails for London. It is too late to think of starting this 
324 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


325 


evening, and, indeed, I feel that I want a long night’s 
rest, for I did not sleep much last night, and have not 
quite recovered from that crack on my head.” 

On his return to the hotel Mark sent out a man to 
enquire at the shipping offices, and finding that a barque 
would sail at nine o’clock the next morning, they went 
down and took berths, and sailed in her next day. The 
voyage home was a rapid one, for the wind blew steadily 
from the east, and the vessel made the passage to the 
mouth of the river in two days, and the next took them 
up to London. 

“ I will call round to-morrow or next day, Gibbons, 
with the cheques for you both,” Mark said, as he pre- 
pared to go ashore. 

“ No, sir. We are both of one mind that we could 
not take them. We went over to prevent you being 
robbed of those sparklers, and to see that you came to 
no harm. Well, the things are lost, and you have got 
knocked down and carried away. It is no thanks to us 
that you are alive now. It is a mortifying job that, with 
two detectives to watch over things and with us to fight, 
we should have been fairly beaten by a few black nig- 
gers.” 

“ If there had been any bungling on your part, Gib- 
bons, there might be something in what you say, but no 
one could have foreseen that before we had been on 
shore two minutes we should have been attacked in that 
way. You both did all that men could do, as was 
shown by the condition of the fellows who were taken. 
I was just as much separated from you as you were from 
me, and the fact that we were surprised as we were is 


326 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


really due to my not determining to stay on board until 
the morning, which I could no doubt have done with 
the captain’s permission. It never struck me for a mo- 
ment that we should be attacked in force. I thought it 
probable that an attempt at assassination would be made, 
but it certainly did not seem probable that it would be 
attempted while you were all with me. You are not in 
the slightest degree to blame, for your part of the agree- 
ment was carried out to my satisfaction. I shall cer- 
tainly carry out mine, as I have arrived home safe and 
sound.” 

“Well, governor, it is very good of you, but I tell you 
it will go against the grain for us to take your money.” 

On landing, Mark parted with Dick Chetwynd, who 
had arranged to drop Mark’s bag at his lodgings on his 
way home, and at once took a hackney coach to Isling- 
ton. Millicent gave a cry of delight as he entered the 
room. 

“You are back earlier than I expected, Mark. You 
told me before you started that the wind was in the east, 
and that you might be a long time getting to Amster- 
dam unless it changed. I have been watching the vane 
on the church, and it has been pointing east ever since. 
Well you have sold the diamonds, I hope ?” she said, 
after the first greeting was over. 

“ No ; I have bad news for you, Millicent : the jewels 
have been stolen.” 

“ Well, it does not make much difference, Mark. We 
have much more than enough without them, so don’t 
bother yourself in the least. How did it happen ?” 

“Well, it is rather a long story. I will tell it you 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


327 


when Mrs. Cunningham is here, so as not to have to go 
over it twice. How are the dresses getting on ?” 

“I suppose they are getting on all right,” she said. 
“ I have done nothing for the last two days but try them 
on. You see, we put them out to three milliners, and 
they all three seem to reach the same point together, 
and I start after breakfast, and it takes about two hours 
at each place. You don’t know what trouble you have 
given me by hurrying things on so unreasonably.” 

“Well, it is better to have it all done and over,” he 
said, “ than to have the thing hanging over you for a 
couple of months.” 

“That is what Mrs. Cunningham says. Now, I want 
to hear about your adventures, and I will call her down. 
Only think, Mrs. Cunningham,” Millicent said, presently, 
with a laugh, after she had returned with her, “this silly 
boy has actually let the diamonds be stolen from him.” 

“No; really, Millicent!” 

“Yes, indeed. Fancy his not being fit to be trusted 
to look after them. However, I tell him it is of no con- 
sequence. I don’t know how they w r ent. He would not 
tell me the story till you came down.” 

“ I am sorry to say it is true, Mrs. Cunningham, 
although I can assure you that I really cannot blame 
myself for either carelessness or stupidity. I knew when 
I started that there was a veiy great risk, and took what 
seemed to me every possible precaution, for, in addition 
to Dick Chetwynd going with me, I took two detectives 
from Bow Street and two prize-fighters.” 

Exclamations of surprise broke from both ladies. 

“ And yet in spite of all that these things were stolen,” 


328 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


Millicent said. “How on earth did they do it? I should 
have sewn them up in my pockets inside my dress.” 

“ I sewed them up in the waistband of my trousers, 
Millicent, and yet they managed in spite of us to steal 
them. And now I must begin by telling you the whole 
history of those diamonds, and you will understand 
why I thought it necessary to take a strong party with 
me.” 

He then told them, repeating the histoiy the colonel 
had given his father of the diamonds and the conviction 
that he had, that he had been followed by Hindoos, and 
the instructions he had given for the disposal of the 
bracelet. 

“As you know” he said, “nothing happened to con- 
firm my uncle’s belief that there were men over here in 
search of the diamonds during my father’s life, but since 
then I have come to the same conclusion that he had, 
and felt positive that I was being constantly followed 
wherever I went. As soon as I heard where the treasure 
was I began to take every precaution in my power. I 
avoided going to the bank after my first visit there, and, 
as you know, would not bring the things for you to look 
at. I got Dick Chetwynd to go there, open the case, 
and take out these diamonds. He did not bring them 
away with him then, but fetched them from there the 
morning we started. He went down and took the pas- 
sage for us both at the shipping office, and the pugilists 
and the detectives each took passage for themselves, so 
that, as I hoped, however closely I was followed, they 
would not learn that I was taking them to Amsterdam.” 

“It was very wrong, Mark, very wrong, indeed,” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


329 


Millicent broke in. “ You had no right to run such 
a terrible risk. It would have been better for you to 
have taken the diamonds and thrown them into the 
Thames.” 

“That would not have improved matters,” he said. 
“ The Indians would not have known that I had got rid 
of them, and would have continued their efforts to find 
them, and I should always have been in danger instead 
of getting it done once for all. However, I did not 
think that there was any danger, going over as I did 
with two of the best prize-fighters in England, to say 
nothing of the detectives, who were the men who were 
with me when I caught Bastow. The only danger was 
that I might be stabbed. But, as they would know, it 
was no use their stabbing me unless they could search me 
quietly, and that they could not do unless I was alone 
and in some lonely neighbourhood, and I had made up 
my mind not to stir out unless the whole party were 
with me. I found out when I got on board that, in 
spite of all the precautions I had taken, they had dis- 
covered that I was going to sail for Amsterdam, which 
they could only have done by following Dick as well as 
myself. There was a dark-faced foreign sailor, who I 
had no doubt was a Hindoo, already on board, and I 
saw another in a boat watching us start. This was un- 
pleasant ; but, as I felt sure that they could not have 
known that I had with me detectives and pugilists, 
I still felt that they would be able to do nothing when I 
got to Amsterdam.” 

Then he told them the whole story of the attack, of 
his being carried away, and of his unexpected release ; 


33o 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


of the search that had been made for him, and the 
arrest of eighteen of his assailants. 

Millicent grew pale as he continued, and burst into 
tears when she heard of his being a prisoner in the hands 
of the Hindoos. 

“ I shall never let you go out of my sight again, 
Mark,” she exclaimed, when he had finished. “ It was 
bad enough before when you were searching for that 
man here, and I used to be terribly anxious, but that 
was nothing to this.” 

‘‘Well, there is an end of it now, Millicent ; the men 
have got the diamonds, and will soon be on their way 
to India, if they have not started already.” 

“Nasty things,” she said, “I shall never like dia- 
monds again ; they will always remind me of the terrible 
danger that you have run. Isn’t it extraordinary that 
for twenty years four or five men should be spending 
their lives waiting for a chance of getting them back !” 

“ I do not expect there were so many as that ; prob- 
ably there was only one. He would have no difficulty 
in learning that my father had not received any extraor- 
dinary gems from my uncle, and probably supposed that 
they would not be taken out from wherever they might 
be until you came of age. After the death of my 
father he might suppose that I should take them out, or 
that, at any rate, I should go to whoever had them, and 
see that they were all right, and he would then hire per- 
haps half a dozen Lascars, — there are plenty of them at 
the docks, — and have watched me wherever I went ; and 
do you know that I believe I once owed my life to 
them.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


33i 


“ How was that, Mark ?” 

“Well, I was captured by some fellows who suspected 
me to be a Bow Street runner, and I think that it would 
have gone very hard with me if a party of five or six 
prize-fighters had not broken into the house, pretty 
nearly killed the men in whose hands I was, and rescued 
me. They said that they had heard of my danger from 
a foreign sailor, who called at Gibbons’s, with whom I 
was in the habit of boxing, and told him about it. You 
see, until they learned where the jewels were, my life was 
valuable to them, for possibly I was the only person who 
knew where they were hidden ; so really I don’t think I 
have any reason for bearing a grudge against them. 
They saved my life in the first place, and spared it at 
what was a distinct risk to themselves. On the other 
hand, they were content with regaining the bracelet, not 
even, as I told you, taking my watch or purse. You 
see with them it was a matter of religion. They had no 
animosity against me personally, but I have no doubt 
they would have stabbed me without the slightest com- 
punction had there been no other way of getting the 
things. Still, I think I owe a debt of gratitude to them 
rather than the reverse, and, after all, the loss of the 
bracelet is not a serious one to us.” 

“I am glad it is gone,” Millicent, said; “you say it 
had already caused the death of two men, and if you 
had succeeded in selling it, I cannot help thinking that 
the money would have brought ill-fortune to us. I am 
heartily glad that they are gone, Mark. I suppose they 
were very handsome.” 

“They were magnificent,” he said. “Dick and Cot- 


332 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


ter both agreed that they had never seen their equal, 
and I fancy that they must have been worth a great deal 
more than your father valued them at.” 

“Well, it does not matter at all ; there is no history 
attached to the others, I hope, Mark?” 

“Not in any way, dear. They were bought, as the 
colonel told my father, in the ordinary course of things, 
and some no doubt were obtained at the capture of 
some of the native princes’ treasuries, but it was solely 
on account of this bracelet that he had any anxiety. 
You can wear all the others if you have a fancy for 
keeping them, without a shadow of risk.” 

“No, Mark, we will sell them every one. I don’t 
think that I shall ever care to wear any jewels again ; 
and if I am ever presented at court and have to do so, I 
would rather that you should buy some new ones fresh 
from a jeweller’s shop than wear anything that has come 
from India.” 

“To-morrow you shall both go to the bank with me 
to see them, and then I will take them to some first-class 
jeweller’s and get him to value them.” 

The visit was paid next day. Both Millicent and 
Mrs. Cunningham were somewhat disappointed at the 
jewels. 

“ It is hardly fair to see them like this,” Philip Cotter 
said. “They would look very different if reset. No 
Indian jewels I have ever seen show to advantage in 
their native settings ; but many of the stones are very 
large, and without knowing anything about them I 
should say that they are fully worth the £2 5,000 at 
which you say Colonel Thorndyke valued them. He 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


333 


was not likely to be mistaken. He was evidently a 
judge of these matters, and would hardly be likely to 
be far wrong.” 

“We will go with you to the jewellers, Mark,” Milli- 
cent said. “ In the first place, I shall not feel quite 
comfortable until I know that they are out of your 
hands, and in the next place I should like to hear what 
he thinks of them.” 

“ I have a number of Indian jewels that I wish you 
to value for me,” Mark said, as, carrying the case, he 
entered the jeweller’s shop. They were collected by 
Colonel Thorndyke, an uncle of mine, during service in 
India.” 

The jeweller took them with him into a room behind 
the shop. The case was opened, and the man took out 
sixty-eight small parcels it contained, and opened them 
one after the other. 

“ I shall need a very careful examination of these 
before I can form any estimate of their value,” he said, 
after inspecting some of the more important pieces of 
jewelry carefully. “They are a most magnificent col- 
lection, and had they been properly cut in the first 
place they would have been worth a very large sum. 
Unfortunately, the Indian princes think more of size 
than of lustre, and have their stones cut very much too 
flat to show off their full brilliancy. Some of these 
large ones I should certainly advise to be recut, for 
what they will lose in weight they will gain in beauty 
and value. However, sir, I will go through them and 
give you an estimate of the selling value of each piece. 
I need not say that they ought all to be reset in the 


334 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


prevailing fashion, but the gold, which is in some cases 
unnecessarily massive, will go some distance towards 
defraying the expense.” 

“When shall I call again?” Mark asked. 

“ I should be glad if you can give me a week,” 
the jeweller said. “Some of the things, for instance 
that great pearl necklace, I could appraise without 
much difficulty, but all the gems must be taken out of 
their settings before I could form a fair idea of their 
value.” 

“Then I will call in a week’s time,” Mark said. “I 
am in no particular hurry about them, but I would 
rather that they were in your care than mine.” 

“ Yes ; if the cracksmen got word that there was such 
a collection as this in any private house it would need 
a couple of men with pistols to keep guard over them.” 

A week later Mark again called. 

“ I have the list ready for you, sir ; you will see that 
they are not marked according to their setting, but ac- 
cording to their size and value. Thus, you see, the 
largest stones are priced separately ; the smaller ones 
are in groups according to their weight. The total 
comes to ,£42,000. I do not know whether that at all 
equals your expectations. I may say that I have shown 
the stones to two or three of our principal diamond 
merchants, and that the prices I have put down are 
those at which they would be willing to buy them ; 
possibly some would be worth more. I had the mer- 
chants here together, and they spent some hours going 
through them, and the sums put down are those at 
which one or other were willing to purchase.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


335 


‘ * It quite answers my expectations,” Mark said. “ My 
uncle’s estimate, indeed, was somewhat lower, but, doubt- 
less he judged them at the price which they would fetch 
in India. Well, sir, I authorize you to close with the 
offers, and to dispose of them for me. I will give you a 
written authority to do so. In the meantime, I wish to 
buy a suite of jewels as a wedding-present, a tiara, neck- 
lace, and bracelets ; but I do not want any diamonds to 
be among them.” 

“ I am afraid I have nothing in stock without dia- 
monds ; of course, I have both necklaces and bracelets 
of almost any stones that you might select, but I have 
no complete set without diamonds ; the effect would be 
sombre, and few ladies would like them.” 

“ We have some unpleasant associations with dia- 
monds,” Mark said, “and on that point I am quite de- 
termined ; but if you used pearls instead of diamonds 
the effect might be as good. I don’t care whether the 
stones are emeralds or rubies ; at any rate, I should like 
to see some, and then perhaps you might be able to 
make me a set on the same model.” 

Several superb sets were brought in ; Mark selected 
one of emeralds and diamonds. 

“ What would be the price of this set ?’ ’ he asked. 

“That set is £ 6000 , sir ; the stones are exceptionally 
fine ones ; but if you substituted pearls of equal size for 
the diamonds, it would cost considerably less ; I could 
not give you the exact price until it is made, but I 
should say that it would be about ^4500.” 

“Very well, then, I will take that. How long will it 
be making?” 


336 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ I should not like to say less than three months at 
the earliest ; it will require some time to collect as fine 
a set of emeralds as these. Indeed, I think that most 
probably I shall use these emeralds, or the greater part 
of them, and collect others to take their places at my 
leisure. I do not know but that the best plan would 
be to take the diamonds out and substitute pearls ; there 
would be no difficulty in getting them, and in that case 
I might have them ready for you in a month.” 

“ I think that will be the best plan ; but you need not 
be in any particular hurry about them, my marriage will 
take place in less than a fortnight, and after that it will 
probably be two or three months before I return to Lon- 
don ; I will get you to keep the things until I come 
back.” 

“I have sold the jewels, Millicent,” he said, when he 
returned to Islington ; “ the jeweller has found pur- 
chasers for them all, and the total comes to ,£42,000.” 

Millicent’s eyes opened in surprise. 

“ Whatever shall we do with all our money, Mark ?” 

“ I rather wonder myself, dear. However, there is 
one thing, there are always plenty of people who will 
be glad to relieve us of anything that we don’t want. I 
can tell you that in the course of my search for Bastow 
I have seen an amount of poverty and misery such as I 
never dreamt of, and I certainly should like to do some- 
thing to relieve it. The best thing that I know of would 
be to give a handsome sum to three or four of the great 
hospitals. I don’t know of any better means of helping 
the very poor.” 

“Suppose, Mark,” the girl said, putting her hand on 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


337 


his arm, “ we give this ^42,000 as a thank-offering. We 
never expected to get it, and my father’s jewels have 
nearly cost you your life. We have such an abundance 
without it, that I should like, above all things, to give 
this money away.” 

“ I think that is an excellent plan, Millicent, and a 
very happy thought on your part. We cannot do it 
now, as we have not yet got the money, but as soon as 
we do, we will send off cheques for ten thousand guineas 
each to St. Bartholomew’s, Guy’s, and St. Thomas’s, 
those are the three principal ones ; the other we can 
settle afterwards. But I should say that the Foundling 
would be as good as any, and I believe that they are 
rather short of funds at present ; then there is the Lon- 
don Mendicity Society, and many other good charities. 
Perhaps it would be better to divide the whole among 
eight of them instead of four ; but we need not settle 
that until we return.” 

“ Do you think we shall have to go to this horrid 
Amsterdam, Mark?” 

“ I hope not, dear ; but I shall no doubt hear from 
the lieutenant of the watch during the next week or ten 
days.” 

When the letter came it was satisfactory. The pris- 
oners, seeing the hopelessness of any defence, had all 
admitted their guilt, and the name of the man who had 
dealt with them had also been given up. Except in his 
case there would be no trial. The others would have 
sentences passed on them at once, and the three, who 
had been promised comparatively slight punishment, 
had gone in the box to give evidence against the man 

22 


338 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


who had engaged them. Before starting for Holland, 
Mark had consulted Millicent as to whether she would 
prefer being married in London or at Crowswood. She 
had replied, — 

“ I should greatly prefer Crowswood, Mark. Here 
we know no one ; there we should be among all our 
friends ; certainly if we don’t go we must get Mr. Greg 
to come up and marry us here. I am sure he would 
feel very disappointed if anyone else were asked. At 
the same time I should not like to go home. When 
we come back from our trip it will be different ; but 
it would be a great trial now, and however happy we 
might be I should feel there was a gloom over the 
house.” 

“ I quite agree with you, Millicent. When we come 
back we can see about entirely refurnishing it, and, 
perhaps, adding some rooms to it, and we need not go 
down until a complete change has been made. We 
shall be able to manage it somehow or other, and I 
quite agree with you that anything will be better than 
going back to the house for a day or two before the 
wedding.” 

On the voyage back from Holland Mark had talked 
the matter over with Dick Chetwynd, and said that he 
thought of taking rooms for Mrs. Cunningham and 
Millicent at Reigate and stopping at the hotel himself, 
and having the wedding-breakfast there. 

“ Of course, Dick, you will be my best man.” 

“I should think so,” Dick laughed. “Why, if you 
had asked anyone else I should have made a personal 
matter of it with him, and have given him the option 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


339 


of resigning the position or going out with me. But 
your other plans are foolish, and I shall take the matter 
into my own hands ; I shall insist upon the two ladies 
coming down to the Park, and I will get my aunt to 
come and preside generally over things. I shall fill up 
the house with bridesmaids and that sort of thing, and 
shall have a dance the evening before. You can put 
up at the hotel if you like, but you know very well that 
there are a dozen houses where they will be delighted 
to have you ; there is no doubt that when they know 
what is coming off you will get a dozen invitations, 
and then after church all those invited will drive off to 
the Park to the wedding-breakfast. After that is over 
you can start in a post-chaise to Canterbury or Dover, 
wherever you may decide to make your first halt.” 

“ But my dear Dick, I could not put you to all this 
trouble !” 

“Nonsense, man. I should enjoy it immensely; 
besides, I shall be really glad of a good reason to try 
and open the doors of the Park again. I have been 
there very little since my father’s death, and I think I 
shall make it my head-quarters in future. I am getting 
rather tired of bachelor life in London, and must look 
out for a wife ; so nothing could be more appropriate 
than this idea. Don’t bother yourself any further about 
it. I shall ride down and establish myself there to- 
morrow, spend a couple of days in driving round to our 
friends, and in sending out invitations. I shall still have 
nearly a fortnight for making all preparations. Why, it 
will cause quite an excitement in the neighbourhood. 
I shall be hailed as a benefactor, and I shall let every- 


340 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


one know that your father’s ward was really your cousin, 
but that by the will of her father she was to drop her 
surname until she came of age, and that until that time 
your father was to have the entire control of the prop- 
erty. I shall add that, although the estate, of course, is 
hers, your uncle has left you a very large fortune, and 
that nothing could be more suitable in all respects than 
the marriage.” 

“ That will do excellently, Dick ; that will be quite 
enough, without going into details at all. You can 
mention that we intend to have the house entirely re- 
furnished, and on the return from our wedding-trip 
abroad to settle there. I am sure I am extremely 
obliged to you for your offer, which will certainly clear 
away all sorts of small difficulties.” 

A day or two after his return, Mark wrote to Mr. 
Greg, telling him the relations in which Millicent and 
he stood to each other, and of the near approach of their 
marriage. He said that Millicent would be married from 
Dick Chetwynd’s, but that it would be at Crowswood 
church. In return, he received a warm letter of con- 
gratulation from the rector, telling him that the news 
was in every respect delightful, and that his wife and the 
children were in a state of the highest excitement, not 
only at the marriage, but at their coming down to reside 
again at Crowswood. 

“The village,” he said, “will be scarcely less pleased 
than I am ; for though everything goes on as you ordered, 
and the people get their milk, broths, and jellies as before, 
they don’t look at it as the same thing as it was in the 
old days. I cannot say that the news of your engage- 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


34 


ment to Miss Conyers — I ought to say Miss Thorndyke 
— is surprising, for I had thought that it would be quite 
the natural thing for you to fall in love with each other, 
and, indeed, my wife declares that she saw it coming on 
distinctly during the last few months before you left 
here. Your postscript, saying that Bastow had been 
captured and had committed suicide, gave me a distinct 
feeling of relief, for no one could tell whether the deadly 
enmity that he felt for your father might not extend to 
you. I have cut this note rather short, but I have just 
heard the door shut, and I am quite sure that my wife 
has gone down to tell the good news in the village, and 
I really cannot deny myself the pleasure of telling some 
of the people and seeing their faces brighten up at the 
news.” 

As Dick had foretold would be the case, Mark received 
a very warm letter from Sir Charles Harris, congratulating 
him upon his approaching marriage, and insisting upon 
his taking up his quarters with him. 

“ I am sending a man down with this to hand it to the 
guard as the up coach goes through the town. Chet- 
wynd told me that his call on me was the first he had 
paid, so I feel fairly confident that I shall forestall the 
rest of your friends and that you will give me the pleas- 
ure of your company.” 

Mark wrote back accepting the invitation at once, 
which enabled him to decline half a dozen others with- 
out the necessity of making a choice. Everything turned 
out as arranged. Millicent and Mrs. Cunningham went 
down in a post-chaise two days before the wedding, and 
Mark drove down in his gig with them. Dick Chet- 


342 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


wynd met them on horseback just outside Reigate, and 
escorted the ladies to his house, Mark driving on to that 
of Sir Charles Harris. Millicent found the house full 
of her special friends, whom she had asked to be her 
bridesmaids. She was almost bewildered by the warmth 
of their welcome, and overpowered by the questions 
poured upon her. 

“The news quite took all our breath away, Millicent,” 
one of them said ; “ it seems extraordinary that you 
should have been Miss Thorndyke all the time, though 
I don’t think that any of us were at all surprised that 
you should take the name now ; you must have been 
surprised when you heard that you were the heiress of 
Crowswood.” 

“I was a great deal more disgusted than surprised,” 
she said, rather indignantly. “ I did not think that it 
was fair at all that I should step into Mark’s shoes.” 

“Well, it has all come right now, Millicent, and I 
dare say you thought that it would, even then.” 

“ I can assure you that I did not ; quite the contrary, 
I thought that it never would come right. I was very 
unhappy about it for a time.” 

“Now, young ladies,” Dick Chetwynd laughed, “will 
you please take Mrs. Cunningham and Miss Thorndyke 
up to their rooms. I don’t suppose I shall see any more 
of you before dinner time ; there are those trunks to be 
opened and examined, talked over and admired. Mind, 
I have fifteen more, for the most part men, coming to 
dinner, so those of you who aspire to follow Miss Thorn- 
dyke’s example had best prepare yourselves for con- 
quest.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


343 


The ball on the following evening was a great suc- 
cess. Dick had determined that it should be a memo- 
rable one, and there was a consensus of opinion that it 
was the most brilliant that had taken place in that part 
of the country for many years. 

Crowswood church and village presented a most fes- 
tive appearance on the following day ; there was not a 
cottage that had not great posies of flowers in its win- 
dows, and that had not made some sort of attempt at 
decoration with flags or flowers. A huge arch of ever- 
greens, with sheaves of wheat and flowers, had been 
erected on the top of the hill, and every man, woman, 
and child turned out in their best and cheered lustily, 
first, when Mark drove up in his gig, and then when the 
Chetwynd carriage, drawn by four grey horses, dashed 
merrily by, containing the bride, bridesmaids, and friends. 
The church was already crowded, and Mr. Greg was 
visibly moved at seeing the son and niece of the man 
to whom he owed his living made man and wife. When 
the wedding-breakfast, at which more than fifty sat down, 
and the necessary toasts were over, Mr. and Mrs. Thorn- 
dyke started for Canterbury. 



CHAPTER XXL 

I T was not until Easter that Mark Thorndyke and his 
wife returned to England. They had spent the 
greater portion of that time in Italy, lingering for 
a month at Venice, and had then journeyed quietly 
homewards through Bavaria and Saxony. They were 
in no hurry, as before starting on their honeymoon 
Mark had consulted an architect, had told him exactly 
what he wanted, and had left the matter in his hands. 
Mrs. Cunningham had from time to time kept them 
informed how things were going on. The part of the 
house in which the Squire’s room had been situated was 
entirely pulled down and a new wing built in its stead. 
Millicent had been specially wishful that this should be 
done. 

“I don’t know that I am superstitious, Mark,” she 
had said, “ but I do think that when a murder has taken 
place in a house it is better to make a complete change. 
The servants always think they see or hear something. 
That part of the house is avoided, and it is difficult to 
344 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


345 


get anyone to stay there. I think it is very much more 
important to do that than it is to get the house refur- 
nished ; we can do anything in that way you like when 
we get back, but I should certainly like very much to 
have the great alteration made before we return.” 

The architect was a clever one, and the house, which 
was some two hundred years old, was greatly improved 
in appearance by the new wing, which was made to 
harmonise well with the rest, but was specially designed 
to give as much variety as possible to the general out- 
line. Millicent uttered an exclamation of pleasure 
when they first caught a glimpse of the house. As 
they rode through the village they were again as heartily 
welcomed as they were on their wedding-day. Mrs. 
Cunningham received them ; she had been established 
there for a month, and had placed the house entirely 
on its old footing. They first examined the new por- 
tion of the house, and Millicent was greatly pleased 
with the rooms that had been prepared for them, 
Mark having requested Mrs. Cunningham to put the 
furnishing into the hands of the best-known firm of 
the day. 

“I have asked,” Mrs. Cunningham said, “the rector 
and his wife and Mr. Chetwynd to dine with us this 
evening ; they can scarcely be termed company, and I 
thought that you might find it pleasant to have these 
old friends here the first evening. There is a letter for 
you on the library table, Mark ; it may almost be called 
a packet ; it has been here nearly a month.” 

In our days a newly married couple would find on 
their return from foreign travel basketfuls of letters, 


346 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


circulars, and catalogues from tradesmen of all kinds ; 
happily our forefathers were saved from these inflictions, 
and Mark at once went to the library with almost a feel- 
ing of surprise as to who could have written to him. 
He saw at once that it was a ship’s letter, for on the 
top was written, “ Favoured by the ‘ Surinam.’ ” 

“ Why it is Ramoo’s writing. I suppose he gave it 
to someone he knew, and that instead of its being put 
in the mail-bag in India he brought it on with him. 
What a tremendously long epistle,” he exclaimed, 
glancing his eye down the first page, and then a puzzled 
expression came across his face ; he sat down and be- 
gan to read from the first slowly and carefully. 

“ Honoured Sahib, — I do not know why I should 
write to tell you the true history of all these matters. I 
have thought it over many times, but I feel that it is 
right that you should know clearly what has happened, 
and how it has come about, and more especially that 
you should know that you need never fear any troubles 
such as those that have taken place. I am beginning 
to write this while we are yet sailing, and shall send it 
to you by ship from the Cape, or if it chances that we 
meet any ship on her way to England, our letters may 
be put on board her.” 

“Why, this letter must be more than a year old,” 
Mark said to himself. There was no date to the letter, 
but, turning to the last sheet, he saw, as a postscript 
after the signature, the words: “January 26. A ship, 
the ‘ Surinam,’ is lying a short distance from us, and 
will take our letters to England.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


347 


“Yes, it must be a year old ; but what he means by 
the way he begins is more than I can imagine.” And 
he turned back to the point at which he had broken off 

“ I would tell it you in order as it happened. I, Ramoo, 
am a Brahmin. Twenty years ago I was the head priest 
of a great temple. I shall not say where the temple 
was ; it matters not in any way. There was fighting, as 
there is always fighting in India. There were Com- 
pany’s Sepoys and white troops, and one night the most 
sacred bracelet of the great god of our temple was 
stolen.” 

“Good heavens!” Mark exclaimed, laying down the 
letter. “ Then it has been Ramoo who has all this time 
been in pursuit of the diamonds ; and to think that my 
uncle never even suspected him !” Then suddenly he 
exclaimed, “Now I understand how it was that my life 
was spared by those fellows. By Jove, this is astound- 
ing !” Then he took up the letter again. 

“Two of the Brahmins under me had observed, at a 
festival the day before the bracelet was lost, a white 
soldier staring at it with covetous eyes. One of them 
was in charge of the temple the night following. He 
came to me and said, ‘ I desire to devote my life to the 
recovery of the jewels of the god. Bondah will go with 
me ; we will return no more until we bring them back.’ 
‘It is good,’ I said ; ‘ the god must be appeased, or ter- 
rible misfortunes may happen.’ Then we held a solemn 
service in the temple. The two men removed the caste 
marks from their foreheads, prostrated themselves before 


348 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


the god, and went out from amongst us as outcasts until 
the day of their death. Two months later a messenger 
came from the one who had spoken to me, saying that 
they had found the man, but had for a long time had no 
opportunity of finding the bracelet. Then Bondah had 
met him in a lonely place and had attacked him. Bon- 
dah had lost his life, but the soldier was, though sorely 
wounded, able to get back to his regiment. He had 
died, but he had, the writer was convinced, passed the 
jewels on to a comrade whom he would watch. Then 
I saw that one man was not sufficient for such a task. 
Then I, too, the Chief Brahmin of the Temple, saw that 
it was my duty to go forth also. 

“ I laid the matter before the others, and they said, 
‘You are right; it is you who, as the chief in the ser- 
vice of the god, should bring back his jewels.’ So again 
there was a service, and I went forth as an outcast and a 
wanderer, knowing that I must do many things that 
were forbidden to my caste ; that I must touch unclean 
things, must eat forbidden food, and must take life if 
needs be. You, sahib, cannot understand how terrible 
was the degradation to me, who was of the purest blood 
of the Brahmins. I had taken the most solemn vows 
to devote my life to this. I knew that whether success- 
ful or not, although I might be forgiven my offence by 
the god, yet that never again could I recover my caste, 
even though the heaviest penances were performed. 
Henceforth I must stand alone in the world, without 
kindred, without friends, without help, save such as the 
god might give me in the search. 

“ I was rich. The greater part of my goods I gave 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


349 


to the Temple, and yet retained a considerable sum, for 
I should need money to carry out my quest, and after I 
had accomplished it I should hand over what remained 
for the benefit of the poor. I should myself become 
a fakir. I want you to understand, sahib, that hence- 
forth I had but one object in life, a supreme one to 
accomplish, in which nothing must stand in my way, 
and that what would be in others a crime was but a sac- 
rifice on my part, most acceptable to the god. I jour- 
neyed down to the place where my comrade was, dressed 
as one of the lowest class, even as a sweeper, and he and 
I strove by all the means in our power to discover what 
this man had done with the jewels. Night after night 
we crawled into his tent. We searched his bed and 
his clothes. With sharp rods we tried every inch of 
the soil, believing that he had hidden the diamonds 
underground, but we failed. 

“ Then my comrade said, ‘ I must give my life to find 
out where he hides these things. I will watch night 
after night by the door of his tent, and if he comes out 
I will stab him. It shall be a mortal wound, but I will 
not kill him outright. Before he dies he will doubtless,' 
as the other did, pass the jewels on to some comrade, 
and then it will be for you to follow him up.’ ‘It is 
good,’ I said. ‘This man may have hidden them 
away somewhere during the time they have marched 
through the country. In spite of the watch you have 
kept he may have said to himself, “ I will return, 
though it be years hence.” Your plan is good. I envy 
you. ’Tis better to die thus than to live in sin as we 
are doing.’ 


350 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“That evening the man was stabbed, but an officer 
running up killed my comrade. The soldier was taken 
to the hospital, and I lay down beside the tent with my 
eye to a slit that I had cut, and watched till morning. 

“Then I took my broom and swept the ground. I 
had not been hired as one of the camp sweepers, and 
so could move about and sweep where I chose. No 
one ever asked me any questions. The soldiers heeded 
me no more than if I had been a dog, and, of course, 
supposed that I was acting by the order of the head of 
the sweepers. Presently I saw one of the servants of 
the hospital go across to the tent of the officer who had 
killed my comrade. He came over and went into the 
hospital tent. I felt sure that it was the wounded man 
that had sent for him. He was in there some time. 
Presently a soldier came out and went to the tent of the 
wounded man, and returned, bringing a musket. Then 
I said to myself, ‘The god has blinded us. He wills 
that we shall go through many more toils before we 
regain the bracelet.’ Doubtless the man had carried 
the bracelet in his musket all the time, and we, blind 
that we were, never thought of it. 

“ Presently the officer came out again. I noticed that 
as he did so he looked round on all sides, as if to see 
if he were watched ; then I knew that it was as I had 
thought : the soldier had given the bracelet to him. At 
this I was well pleased ; it would be far more easy to 
search the tent of an officer than of a soldier, who 
sleeps surrounded by his comrades. I thought that 
there was no hurry now ; it would need but patience, 
and I should be sure to find it. I had not calculated 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


35 


that he would have better opportunities than the soldier 
for going about, and that doubtless the soldier had 
warned him of his danger. Two hours later the officer 
mounted his horse and rode towards the camp of another 
regiment a mile and a quarter away. There was nothing 
in that, but I watched for his return all that day and all 
that night, and when he did not come b^ck, I felt that 
he was doing something to get rid of the diamonds. 

“ He was away three days, and when he returned I 
was almost sure that he had not the diamonds about 
him. As he had ridden off he had looked about just 
as he had when he left the hospital : he was uneasy, just 
as if he were watched ; now he was uneasy no longer. 
Then I knew that my search would be a long one and 
might fail altogether. I went away, and for three 
months I prayed and fasted ; then I returned. I 
bought different clothes, I painted my forehead with 
another caste mark, then I bought from the servant of 
an officer in another regiment his papers of service, — 
recommendations from former masters. Then I went 
to the officer, — you will guess, sahib, that it was the 
major, your uncle, — and I paid his servant to leave his 
service and to present me as a brother of his who had 
been accustomed to serve white sahibs, and was, like 
himself, a good servant ; so I took his place. 

“ He was a good master, and I came to love him, 
though I knew that I might yet have to kill him. You 
have heard that I saved his life three times ; I did so 
partly because I loved him, but chiefly because his life 
was most precious to me, for if he had died I should 
have lost all clue to the jewels. I had, .of course, 


352 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


made sure that he had not got them with him , over 
and over again I searched every article in his posses- 
sion. I ripped open his saddle lest they might be sewn 
up in its stuffing. All that could be done I did, but I 
was sure that he had not got them. He, on his part, 
came to like me. He thought that I was the most 
faithful of servants, and after the last time I saved his 
life he took me with him everywhere. He went down 
to Madras and was married there. I watched his every 
movement. After that he went down frequently. Then 
a child was born, and six months afterwards his wife 
died. 

“The regiment was stationed at the fort. At that 
time he was at many places, — the governor’s, the other 
officer sahibs’, the merchants’, and others. I could not 
follow him, but I was sure by his manner that he had 
not taken back the bracelet from whoever he had sent 
it to. I knew him so well by this time that I should 
have noticed any change in his manner in a moment. 
At last the child went away in the charge of Mrs. 
Cunningham. I bribed the child’s ayah, and she 
searched Mrs. Cunningham’s boxes and every garment 
she had, and found no small sealed parcel or box 
amongst them. Three years more passed. By this 
time the colonel treated me more as a friend than as a 
servant. He said one day, laughing, ‘ It is a long time 
since my things have been turned topsy-turvy, Ramoo. 
I think the thieves have come to the conclusion that I 
have not got what they are looking for.’ ‘What is 
that, sahib?’ I asked. ‘Some special jewels,’ he said. 
‘They are extremely valuable. But I have got them 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


353 


and a lot of other things so safely stowed that no one 
will ever find them unless I give them the clue.’ ‘But 
suppose you are killed, sahib,’ I said; ‘your little 
daughter will never get the things.’ ‘ I have provided 
for that,’ he answered. ‘ If I am killed I have arranged 
that she shall know all about it either when she comes 
to the age of eighteen or twenty-one.’ 

“ A few weeks after that he was wounded very badly. 
I nursed him night and day for weeks, and when he 
came to England he brought me with him. As you 
know, sahib, he died. When he was in London he went 
to see Mrs. Cunningham and the child, and several times 
to the office of the lawyer who attended your father’s 
funeral. Then he came down to your father, and I 
know he had long and earnest conversations with him. 
I did all I could to listen, but the colonel always had 
the windows and doors shut before he began to speak. 
I could see that your father was troubled. Then the 
colonel died. After his death I could never find his 
snuff-box ; he had carried it about with him for some 
years ; once or twice I had examined it, but it was too 
small for the diamonds to be hidden in. I supposed 
that he had given it to the sahib, your father, but as I 
could never find it I guessed that there was some mys- 
tery attached to it, though what, I could not tell. 

“ Then your father took me down to Crowswood with 
him, and Mrs. Cunningham and the little girl came 
down. I was surprised to find that your father seemed 
to be master of the estate, and that no one thought any- 
thing of the child, whose name had been changed. I 
spoke one day to Mrs. Cunningham about it. Your 

23 


354 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


father seemed to me a just and good man, and I could 
not believe that he was robbing his brother’s daughter. 
Mrs. Cunningham told me that the colonel did not wish 
her to be known as an heiress, and that he had left the 
estate to his brother until she came of age. Your father 
was as good a master as the colonel had been. I 
watched and watched, and once or twice I overheard 
him talking to himself in the library, and discovered 
that your father himself was altogether ignorant of the 
hiding-place of the property that the colonel had men- 
tioned in his will. I knew then that I should have 
to wait until the child was either eighteen or twenty- 
one. 

“ It was a long time, but I had learnt to be patient. 
I was not unhappy. I loved your father. I loved the 
colonel’s little daughter, and I was very fond of you. 
All these things were small to me in comparison to my 
vow and the finding of the jewels of the god, but they 
shortened the years of waiting. Then a year before the 
young mistress was eighteen came the shot through the 
window. I did not know who had fired it, but I saw 
that your father’s life was in danger, and I said to my- 
self, ‘ He will tell the young sahib what he knows about 
the bracelet.’ After you had gone into the library I 
opened the door quietly, and listened. I could hear 
much that was said, but not all. I heard him say some- 
thing about a snuff-box, and some means of finding the 
lost things being hidden in it, and that he had kept 
them all these years in a secret hiding-place, which he 
described. You were to search for them, and I guessed 
from that that he did not know what he was to be told 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


355 


when the young mem sahib came of age, or perhaps 
when she was eighteen. It was not until I had thought 
over what I heard that I came to the conclusion that 
if I could find the things he spoke of I might be 
able to find the jewels. By that time your father had 
gone to bed. I was foolish not to have been patient, 
but my blood boiled after waiting for eighteen or nine- 
teen years. The god seemed to have sent me the 
chance, and it seemed to me that I should take it at 
once. I knew that he generally slept with his window 
open, and it seemed to me that it would be easy to slip 
in there and to get those things from the cabinet. I 
knew where the ladder was kept. I took a file from 
the tool-chest and cut the chain.” 

Here Mark dropped the letter in horror. 

“Good heavens!” he exclaimed. “Then Bastow 
spoke truly, and he was not my father’s murderer. 
Never did a single suspicion of Ramoo enter my head. 
This is appalling ; but I cannot read any more now. It 
is time for me to go and dress for dinner.” 

“Is anything the matter with you, Mark?” Millicent 
asked, anxiously, as she met him in the drawing-room. 
“You look as white as a sheet.” 

“ I have been reading Ramoo’s letter, and he has told 
me some things that have surprised and shocked me. I 
will tell you about them after dinner, dear. It is a long 
story, but you won’t have to wait until Dick and the 
Gregs are gone. They are interested in all that interests 
us, and shall hear the letter read. No ; I think I will 
ask them and Dick to come in in the morning. I should 


356 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


not like anything to sadden the first evening of our 
coming home.” 

“Then it is something sad.” 

“Yes ; but it does not affect us, though it does affect 
Ramoo. Now, clear your brow, dear, and dismiss the 
subject from your mind, else our guests will fancy that 
our marriage has not been altogether so satisfactory as 
they had hoped.” 

“As if they could think such a thing as that, Mark!” 
she said, indignantly. “But there is the sound of 
wheels ; it is Mr. Chetwynd’s gig.” 

The three visitors all came in together, having met at 
the door. Mark, with a great effort, put aside the letter 
from his mind, and a cheerful evening was spent. They 
had much to tell of their travels, many questions to ask 
about the parish and the neighbourhood generally, and 
of Dick Chetwynd as to mutual friends ; and when they 
rose to go, Mark said, — 

“ Would you mind riding over again to-morrow morn- 
ing, Dick ? I have a letter to read to you that will in- 
terest you greatly.” 

“Certainly; what time shall I be here?” 

“Say at eleven o’clock. It is a long epistle, and will 
take us an hour to get through ; after that we can stroll 
round, and, of course, you will stop to lunch. I should 
be glad if you and Mrs. Greg can come over, too,” he 
added, turning to the rector. “You will be much inter- 
ested also in the matter.” 

The next day the party met in the library at the hour 
named. 

“ I may tell you, Mr. Greg, that I specially asked you 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


357 


and your wife here because this letter throws some light 
on Arthur Bastow’s connection with my father’s murder. 
You were friends with his father, and I think you ought 
to know. As to you, Dick, the letter will interest you 
from beginning to end, and will surprise as much as it 
will interest you.” 

“ Even I don’t know what it is, Mrs. Greg,” Millicent 
said. “ I know it quite upset Mark yesterday ; but he 
said he would sooner I did not know anything about it 
until to-day, as he did not want me to be saddened on 
the first evening of our return home. Now, please go 
on, Mark ; you have said quite enough to excite us all.” 

Mark had read but a short distance when Dick Chet- 
wynd exclaimed, — 

“Then Ramoo was at the bottom of that Indian 
business, after all. I almost wonder you never sus- 
pected it, Mark.” 

“Well, I hardly could do so,” Mark said, “when my 
uncle was so fond of him, and he had served him so 
faithfully.” 

As he approached the point at which he had laid down 
the letter on the previous evening, Millicent’s colour 
faded. Suddenly an exclamation of horror broke from 
her when he read the last line. 

“Oh, Mark,” she said, with quivering lips,. “don’t say 
it was Ramoo ! He always seemed so kind and good.” 

“ It was here I stopped last night,” he said ; “ but I 
fear there can be no doubt about it. I must say that it 
is evident from this letter that no thought of doing my 
father harm was in his mind when he placed that ladder 
against the window. Now I will go on.” 


358 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


The letter continued as follows : 

“ Having placed the ladder, I clambered to the win- 
dow and quietly entered the room. It was quite dark, 
but I knew the place of every piece of furniture so well 
that I was able to go without hesitation to the cabinet. 
Your father was speaking very slowly and distinctly 
when he told you how it was to be opened, and I was 
able to do it easily, but I did not know that the back 
opened with a sharp click, and the noise startled me and 
woke your father. In an instant he was out of bed and 
seized me by the throat. Now, he was a much stronger 
man than I was. I struggled in vain. I felt that in a 
moment I should become insensible. My vow and my 
duty to the god flashed across me, and, scarce knowing 
what I did, I drew a little dagger I always carried and 
struck blindly. He fell, and I fell beside him. For 
a time I was insensible. When I recovered I was seized 
with the bitterest remorse that I had killed one I loved, 
but I seemed to hear the voice of the god saying, ‘You 
have done well, Ramoo. I am your great master, and 
you are bound to my service.’ 

“I got up almost blindly, felt in the cabinet, and 
found a coin and a piece of paper, and a feeling of exul- 
tation came over me that after nearly twenty years I 
should succeed in carrying out my vow and taking his 
bracelet back to the god. I descended the ladder, crept 
in at the back door by which I had come out, went up 
to my room, where I had kept a light burning, and ex- 
amined my treasures. Then I saw that all had been in 
vain. They were doubtless a key to the mystery, but 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


359 


until a clue was given they were absolutely useless. I 
sat for hours staring at them. I would have gone back 
and replaced them in the cabinet and left all as it had 
been before, but I dared not enter the room again. 
The next day I heard you say that you suspected that 
the talk with your father had been overheard, and that 
the man who had earlier in the evening before shot at 
him had returned, and while listening had heard some- 
thing said about the hiding-place, and thought that he 
would find some sort of treasure there. I thought that 
in the talk your father might have told you how to use 
these things, though I had not caught it, and it was 
therefore important that you should have them back 
again, so I went into the room after the inquest was over 
and placed the things in their hiding-place again. 

“Then, thinking it over, I determined to leave your 
service. You would be trying to find the treasure, and 
I must watch you, and this I could not do as long as I 
was a house servant ; so I came up to London and you 
thought I had sailed for India, but I did not go. I 
hired four Lascars, men of my own religion, and paid 
them to watch every movement that you made, to see 
where you visited and where you went. I paid them 
well, and they served me well ; it was so that I was able 
to bring those men to your help when but for that you 
would have lost your life. It was for this to some extent 
that I had you followed, for I soon found out that you 
were on the search for the man who had fired through 
the window, and who you believed had killed your father, 
rather than for the jewels. I knew that you might run 
into danger, and partly because I loved you, and partly 


360 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


because it was possible that it would be essential for that 
coin and piece of paper to be produced in order that 
the treasure might be obtained, I kept guard over you. 

“When the 18th of August approached, we were all 
on the watch. I felt sure that you would take every 
possible precaution while you had the bracelet in your 
possession. We knew who were your principal friends, 
— the banker’s son and Mr. Chetwynd. On the 1 8th of 
August everything went on as usual. On the following 
day the banker’s son came to you, and as soon as he 
left you, you went to the lawyer’s, and afterwards to the 
banker’s. I felt sure now that it was at that bank that the 
jewels had been placed, and that you had been waiting 
till the young mem sahib’s birthday for the news that they 
might be taken out ; then you went to Mr. Chetwynd’s, 
and he went to the bank. I had no doubt that he was 
to take them out for you, and after that one of the men 
never took his eyes off him when he was outside of his 
house. Afterwards you went to the place where the 
men used to fight, and the man who was watching you 
went in and had beer and saw you talking with the big 
man you used to fight with, in the parlour behind the 
bar. The watcher went out to follow you, but left 
another to watch this man. We found that both Mr. 
Chetwynd and he went to a shipping office in Tower 
Street, and we then guessed that you intended to take 
the bracelet at once across the sea. 

“ I went myself and found out that a vessel was sail- 
ing in two days to Amsterdam. I took a passage for a 
man in the cheap cabin, and asked to look at the list of 
passengers, as I believed that some friend would be sail- 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


361 


ing by her ; there were two names down together in 
one handwriting among the first-class passengers, and I 
guessed that these were you and Mr. Chetwynd. I 
also saw the name of the big man, which I had heard 
long before, down in the list of the passengers, and 
another name next to his in the same handwriting. I 
did not know his name, but guessed that it was another 
of the fighting men, and that they were going to look 
after you until you had got rid of the diamonds. On 
the morning that she was to sail, one of the Lascars 
was on board ; I thought it possible that in order to 
throw anyone who might be following you off your 
scent you might at the last moment go ashore, and 
that Mr. Chetwynd might take the diamonds over, 
so I watched and saw you on the deck with your 
friend. 

“I and the other three Lascars then took passage 
that evening in a craft for Rotterdam, and got to Am- 
sterdam two days before your ship arrived ; we went to 
different houses, and, going separately into the worst 
parts of the town, soon found a man who kept a gam- 
bling-den, and who was a man who could be trusted. 
I offered him a thousand francs to collect twenty-five 
men, who were to be paid a hundred francs each, and 
to be ready, if your ship arrived after dark to attack 
two passengers that I would point out to them. I did 
not want you to be hurt, so bargained that all knives 
were to be left behind, and that he was to supply the 
men only with clubs. If the ship came in in daylight 
you were to be attacked the first time you went out 
after dark. You know how that was carried out. You 


362 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


had two more men with you than I had expected ; but 
I thought that with a sudden rush you might all be 
separated. You know the rest. The moment you 
were knocked down I and three others carried you to a 
boat. It had been lying near the stairs, and we took 
you off to the barge in which I had arranged you should 
be taken to Rotterdam. 

“ We told them that you were a drunken man who 
had been stunned in a fight in a public-house. As 
soon as we were off, I searched you and found the 
diamonds. Then, as you know, we put you ashore. 
We all crossed to England that night. Two days later 
I sailed in this ship, the ‘ Bramahpootra.’ I am not 
afraid of telling you this, because I know that the 
diamonds will not shine on the god’s arm until all fear 
of search and enquiry are over. My task will be done 
when I hand them over to the man who holds the office 
I once held ; then I shall bear the penances imposed on 
me for having broken my caste in every way, and for 
having taken life, and for the rest of my days I shall 
wander as a fakir through India. I shall be supported 
by the knowledge that I have done my duty to my god, 
and have sacrificed all in his service, but it will ever be 
a grief to me that in so doing it was necessary to sacri- 
fice the life of one who had ever shown me kindness. 
You may wonder why I have written this, but I felt 
that I must own the truth to you, and that you should 
know that if in the course of my duty to the god it was 
my misfortune to slay your father, I have twice saved 
your life, just as three times 1 saved that of the colonel 
sahib, your uncle.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 363 

There was silence for some little time after Mark had 
finished reading. 

“It is a strange story, indeed,” Mr. Greg said, “but 
it is not for us to judge the man. He has acted accord- 
ing to his lights, and none can do more. He sacrificed 
himself and his life solely to the service of his god, well 
knowing that, even were he successful, his reward would 
be penance and suffering, and a life of what cannot but 
be misery to a man brought up, as he has been, to con- 
sider himself of the highest and holiest rank of the 
people. I think, Mark, we need neither say nor think 
anything harshly of him.” 

“ Certainly not,” Mark agreed. “ I can understand 
that according to his view of the matter anything that 
stood between him and his goal was but an obstacle 
to be swept aside ; assuredly there was no premedita- 
tion in the killing of my father. I have no doubt that 
the man was attached to him, and that he killed him not 
to save his own life, but in order that his mission might 
be carried out.” 

“ Quite so, Mark ; it was done in the same spirit, if I 
may say so, that Abraham would have sacrificed his son 
at the order of his God. What years of devotion that 
man has passed through. Accustomed, as you see, to a 
lofty position, to the respect and veneration of those 
around him, he became a servant and performed duties 
that were in his opinion not only humiliating, but pol- 
luting and destructive to his caste, and which rendered 
him an outcast even among the lowest of his people. 
Do you not think so, Mrs. Thorndyke ?” 

Millicent, who was crying quietly, looked up. 


364 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 


“ I can only think of him as the man who twice saved 
Mark’s life,” she said. 

“ I understand why you have wished to tell me this 
story,” the rector went on to Mark. “You wish me to 
know that Arthur Bastow did not add this to his other 
crimes ; that he was spared from being the murderer 
of your father, but from no want of will on his part ; 
and, as we know, he killed many others, the 'last but 
an hour or two before he put an end to his own life, 
still I am glad that this terrible crime is not his. It 
seemed to be so revolting and unnatural. It was the 
Squire’s father who had given the living to his father, 
and the Squire himself had been his friend in the greatest 
of his trials, and had given him a shelter and a home 
in his old age. I am glad at least that the man, evil 
as he was, was spared this last crime of the grossest 
ingratitude.” 

“Well, Mark,” Dick Chetwynd said, cheerfully, in 
order to turn the subject, “I am heartily glad that we 
have got to the bottom of this jewel mystery. I have 
been puzzling over it all the time that you have been 
away, and I have never been able to understand how, in 
spite of the precautions that we took, they should have 
found out that the jewels were at Cotter’s, and that you 
had them on board with you, and, above all, why they 
spared your life when they could so easily and safely 
have put you out of the way. It is certainly strange 
that while you were thinking over everything connected 
with the jewels, the idea that Ramoo was the leading 
spirit in the whole business should never once have 
occurred to you.” 


THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 365 

A month later, when Mark went up to town, he called 
at Leadenhall Street. 

“ Of course, you have not heard of the arrival of the 
‘ Brahmapootra’ at Madras yet. May I ask when she 
left the Cape ?” 

“ She never left the Cape, sir,” the clerk replied, “ and 
there are very grave fears for her safety. She spoke the 
* Surinam,’ and gave her mails for England, when the 
latter was eight days out from the Cape, and the ‘ Suri- 
nam’ reported that a day later she encountered a terri- 
ble gale, lost several spars, and narrowly escaped being 
blown on to the African coast. Since then we have had 
no news of the ‘ Brahmapootra.’ A number of India- 
men have arrived since ; the latest came in only yester- 
day, and up to the time when she left no news had been 
received of the ship. Three small craft had been sent 
up the coast weeks before to make enquiries for her, but 
had returned without being able to obtain any intelli- 
gence, and had seen no wreckage on the coast, although 
they had gone several hundred miles beyond where she 
had spoken the ‘Surinam,’ therefore, there can be but 
little doubt that she foundered with all hands during the 
gale. You had no near relatives on board, I hope, sir?” 

“No near relatives, but there was one on board in 
whom I was greatly interested. Here is my card ; I 
should feel greatly obliged if you would write me a line 
should you hear anything of her.” 

“I will do so, sir. We have had innumerable enqui- 
ries from friends and relatives of those on board, and 
although of late we have been obliged to say that there 
can no longer be any hope that she will ever be heard 


. & 

366 THE BRAHMINS’ TREASURE 

of, not a day passes but many persons still come in to 
enquire.” 

No letter ever came to Mark, no news was ever heard 
of the “Brahmapootra.” Ramoo’s sacrifice was in vain, 
and never again did the diamond bracelet glisten on the 
arm of the idol in the unknown temple. 





♦ 

































